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Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

monash.edu

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Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#11
post #6
post #5

Alzheimer’s is driven by the buildup of toxic proteins called amyloid-beta. In the words of Derek Lowe: Amyloid-directed therapies truly, truly do not appear to be the answer for Alzheimer’s treatment. When I started work in the field back in the early 1990s, I was convinced of the opposite - the evidence looked very strong that defects in amyloid processing were indeed the cause of the disease. But that was thirty-f…

I care what works, not about debate. This seems to work and that trumps any debate about what the real means are. Don't get me wrong, if you are in this area of research this debate is important. There may be other types of Alzheimer's that have a different means. This drug may actually target something else. There might be some other truth I haven't thought it - but to me as an outsider the important part is a treat…

In the title "....in the APP/PS1 Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease"

Given the decades of emphasis on clearing / preventing amyloids I would be fairly jaded. If someone (biotech) wants to spend $$$ chasing this down, good on them.

But a paper curing a mouse model of a human neurological disease does not move the needle for someone with or watching someone suffer from this disease.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#13
Flagged. Nonsense puff piece by the university. The headline itself is beyond terrible - this is a mouse model and would need years of further successful research to be able to say that it "restores memory" in any meaningful way, let alone in actual humans.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#14
post #5

Alzheimer’s is driven by the buildup of toxic proteins called amyloid-beta. In the words of Derek Lowe: Amyloid-directed therapies truly, truly do not appear to be the answer for Alzheimer’s treatment. When I started work in the field back in the early 1990s, I was convinced of the opposite - the evidence looked very strong that defects in amyloid processing were indeed the cause of the disease. But that was thirty-f…

> Alzheimer’s is driven by the buildup of toxic proteins called amyloid-beta.

Isn't the current thinking that amyloid-beta buildup is a marker, not a cause? The therapy may be working here, but it isn't clear whether clearing amyloid-beta proteins is the mechanism or an outcome.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#15
post #5

Alzheimer’s is driven by the buildup of toxic proteins called amyloid-beta. In the words of Derek Lowe: Amyloid-directed therapies truly, truly do not appear to be the answer for Alzheimer’s treatment. When I started work in the field back in the early 1990s, I was convinced of the opposite - the evidence looked very strong that defects in amyloid processing were indeed the cause of the disease. But that was thirty-f…

The podcast "Why Has There Been So Little Progress on Alzheimer’s Disease?" https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-has-there-been-so-littl... discusses a lot of the academic fraud that lead to people following the Amyloid hypothesis.

The TLDR is that the researchers were publishing doctored images to support their hypothesises, which is why the Amyloid hypothesis was such a dead end.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#16
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I care what works, not about debate. This seems to work and that trumps any debate about what the real means are. Don't get me wrong, if you are in this area of research this debate is important. There may be other types of Alzheimer's that have a different means. This drug may actually target something else. There might be some other truth I haven't thought it - but to me as an outsider the important part is a treat…

I don’t think anyone is against a treatment that works, regardless of the mechanism. The problem is that claimed success in these rat models has never transferred to humans. Either the problem is that rat Alzheimer’s is a poor model for human Alzheimer’s or the science being done is poor quality. > Because reducing amyloid burden is clinically proven to improve functional outcomes, these preclinical results strongly…

If a beta-amyloid therapy eventually makes it to successful trials, there will still be people who believe the argument is already over and the therapy cannot work. The problem identified by Lowe and others is that some amyloid-oriented researchers were not only falsifying data but also acting as reviewers and editors of journals and tanking alternative explanations.

That has stopped, presumably, but alternative approaches haven't had much success yet either.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#18
btw definitely related and seems significant:

they found people who use glucosamine (joint pain, knees etc)

have a 25% higher chance of Alzheimer's progression

https://thesciverse.org/scientists-found-that-a-supplement-t...

(still can't figure out if that website is "AI" but they have great articles)

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#19
My mother has early onset alzheimer's disease. We currently know very little about the disease and the current treatment options are controversial. The efficacy of the medications removing the amyloid plaque from the brain is questionable, as people still decline.

What makes alzheimer's difficult is that it is not really a single uniform disease. There are subtypes.

Since my mother has it, I was presented with an option of a genetic test. There are several genes which increase your risk. However, if one has PSEN1 that will 100% guarantee early onset alzheimer's at some point.

I'm still on the fence if I want to know.

I really hope we get some viable treatments for this terrible disease. Early onset azlheimer's is awful. I cannot imagine having malfunctioning brain.

Re: Copper transport drug restores memory and clears toxic Alzheimer's proteins

#20

Flagged. Nonsense puff piece by the university. The headline itself is beyond terrible - this is a mouse model and would need years of further successful research to be able to say that it "restores memory" in any meaningful way, let alone in actual humans.

Yes, it’s really disappointing to see Monash doing that - not a mention of mouse or mice.
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