Researchers believe they may have found a way to slow down Alzheimer's disease

(AP) – Experimental treatment appears to delay symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in some people Genetically destined New findings from ongoing research show that to acquire illness in your 40s or 50s Trump administration Delay in funds.

Even if research participants were worried that politics could reduce access to potential lifelines, the early results – Science No. 1 – were published Wednesday.

“It's still a study, but it gave me an extension to my life.

In 50 years, Heinrichs has been treated for over a decade in the study, and remains symptomatic despite inheriting the gene responsible for Alzheimer's, which killed his father and brother around the same time.

If the blocked funds stop Heinrich's administration, “How long do we have?” asked his wife, Rachel Chubkin. “This trial is life.”

Two drugs On sale in the US, the worsening of early stages of Alzheimer's disease can slowly slow down one of its characteristics, the sticky gank brain called amyloid. However, up until now, there has been no hint that removing amyloid years ago before the initial symptoms appeared may postpone the disease.

Research led by Washington University in St. Louis Family passing rare genetic mutations It almost guarantees that the symptoms will develop at the same age as those affected relatives did. This information is useful for scientists to tell if a treatment is effective.

The new findings center on a subset of 22 participants who received the longest amyloid-removing drug, with an average of eight years. Long-term amyloid removal has been reduced by half the risk of developing symptoms, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Lancet Neurology.

Despite the small size of the study, “it's very important,” said David Gate, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University who was not involved in the study.

Currently, participants have switched from their previous drug to Leqembi, a US-approved IV treatment, and are about to answer the obvious next question:

“What we want to decide over the next five years is how strong the protection is,” said Dr. Randall Bateman of the University of Washington, who controls the Alzheimer's disease research network involving families with these rare genes. “If we continue to treat them, will they have symptoms of Alzheimer's?”

My worries are as follows: Bateman raised funds to launch that confirmation study while seeking funding for the National Institute of Health for the national project, but his grant was delayed as required reviews were cancelled. This is an example of how millions of dollars of research are stagnating as NIH tackles funding restrictions and mass firing.

At the same time, researchers wonder whether NIH will shift focus from Amyloid research after comments by Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. Nominated for the new director of the agency.

“One reason why I think Alzheimer's hasn't made progress is because the NIH does not support a wide enough hypothesis,” Bhattacharya told the senator, responding to someone who cited previous examples of science injustice that were not related to the current study.

Scientists don't know exactly what causes Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a mind-destructive disease affecting nearly 7 million Americans, mostly later in life. What is clear is that quiet changes occur in the brain at least 20 years before the initial symptoms, with sticky amyloid being the main contributor. At some point, the accumulation of amyloid appears to cause a protein called tau and begin killing neurons.

Drugs to fight Tau are currently being tested. Researchers are also studying other factors such as inflammation, brain immune cells, and specific viruses.

The NIH focus has expanded as researchers discovered more perpetrators. In 2013, the National Institute on Aging of the NIH funded 14 possible trials for Alzheimer's disease targeting a third amyloid. By last fall, there were 68 drug trials and about 18% of the target amyloids.

Northwestern's Gate counts itself among scientists “thinking amyloid isn't everything,” but said there is nothing that has invalidated the amyloid hypothesis. He recently learned how, using preserved brain tissue from an old amyloid study, immune cells called microglia can switch to cleaning these plaques and helping to heal the brain.

For now, amyloid is clearly involved in some way, and families with the genes responsible for Alzheimer's can help answer important questions for those at risk. Without NIH funding, the opportunity would be lost, Bateman said.

“It's absolutely sane,” said June Ward, a longtime study participant who lives near Asheville, North Carolina.

Ward turned 64 in June, and is healthy and two years older than when his mother's symptoms appeared. “It's exciting to think about the possibility that Alzheimer's may not get me,” she said.

In New York, Heinrichs said his 3-year-old son “hopes that I would not experience the stress and sadness of living as a young man to see his father disappear.

“We need the NIH to not be politicized,” his wife Chubkin added. “It's about keeping people alive or helping them live better. And in this case it's helping my husband survive.”

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