http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI108_2008_Groups/group07/alzheimers-disease.jpg
Definitions:
Alzheimer's disease: a disease caused by the deterioration of cells and tissue in the brain; it causes the mind to forget memories and functions, and eventually, the person afflicted will forget how to operate.
Biomarkers: an indicator that can be recorded to see if there is a change or development in the disease. For example, the amount or concentration of amyloid, a protein that certain diseases cause the body to distribute to the spleen, kidney, and other tissues, is a biomarker.
Summary:
A scientist in Medellin, Colombia, is working on a drug that stops Alzheimer’s disease before the symptoms start to show or before it is too late.
Because a lot of other drugs have failed when administered after the patient has already started to show symptoms, scientists think that a drug prescribed long before the symptoms start will be much more effective.
The trials will test whether or not seven years is a sufficient time in advance for the drug to be administered and still be effective; they are doing this by testing if there are changes by tracking certain biomarkers.
Though the rewards for this drug are very high, there are many setbacks, such as the fact that it takes a lot of time and money to test a drug for seven or so years. However, if scientists can figure out if the drug is making a change in the biomarkers, then they can invest more in the experiment because most likely, the drug is going to prove more or less effective.
They are also trying to prevent Alzheimer’s altogether, working hard on making sure they do not create symptoms in a patient that was symptom-free before the trials.
Discussion:
I originally chose this article because I’m interested in cognitive psychology and when I read this one, I was very interested because it talked about a possible cure for dementia.
If we could cure genealogical dementia, tons of people would not have to suffer from it. Dementia causes people to forget not only experiences and information about themselves, but also family members and loved ones; in addition, their personalities can also change radically, turning them into a completely different person.
Because of this, families are ripped apart from the grief and friends stop caring for the person that is afflicted with dementia.
I think it is phenomenal that someone has possibly found a cure for dementia; if all dementia could be cured, then hundreds of lives wouldn’t be ruined.
However, since it takes a long time to study (about seven or so years) it’s going to take a long time to completely work out all the kinks and such in the drug. Also, it’s kind of a risky experiment because instead of stunting the Alzheimer’s, it could really make it even worse.
Questions:
As this experiment has yet to be conducted and a conclusion has not been found, an obvious question is: did the drug work?
Also, how exactly do the biomarkers indicate a change in the disease?
Resources:
Article: Stix, Gary. "Alzheimer's: Forestalling the Darkness." Science Reference Center.
EBSCO, June 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=119&sid=c2188313-fcdf-4c82-b52e-84e0e29a468c%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ulh&AN=50456559>.
Picture:
