We may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. Brigham and Women's Hospital has announced it is going to test out the first human trial of a nasal vaccine for Alzheimer's. It will be a small trial with 16 people between ages 60 and 85 with symptoms of the disease. They will receive two doses of a vaccine one week apart. This is based on decades of research that shows that stimulating the immune system can help clear beta-amyloid plaques in the brain.
The sticky plaques are typical of Alzheimer's disease.
They form when pieces of beta-amyloid protein build up between nerve cells, which can disrupt a person's ability to think or recall information.
The aim of the vaccine is to activate immune cells to remove plaque, by spraying a drug known as Protollin directly into the nasal passage. As an understanding of the disease has grown, scientists have said it is particularly promising, even though it is not a completely new idea. Jeffrey Cummings, a brain science professor at the University of Nevada, said the idea of activating immune cells is becoming more and more central to the idea of treating Alzheimer's disease. He said that a nasal spray might be better at delivering Protollin to immune cells than other methods like infusion or using an inhaler. The trial results are tipped to give scientists more insight into how to treat Alzheimer disease, as participants must be in good health and at an early stage of the disease.
The researchers have to prove that it's safe and determine what dose to give before the nasal vaccine can advance to larger trials. This is not the first revolutionary Alzheimer's trial we have seen in recent years. In the last five years, new technology like brain scans and blood tests have made the disease easier for Alzheimer's to diagnose as well as check how well treatments are working. He said it just feels like we have turned a corner. It comes after 20 years of failed drug trials, with many large pharmaceutical companies scrapping plans to develop an Alzheimer's treatment altogether. READ MORE: Archaeology breakthrough as rare roman mosaic found in UK field
Memory loss, insomnia, and loss of language or reasoning skills are some of these. The exact cause of Alzheimer's disease is not yet fully understood.