Drug gives hope to Alzheimer’s patients

A DRINKABLE drug could offer hope for people with Alzheimer’s disease after it restored the memories of mice.

Experts now believe they can halt the ‘first step’ in the devastating disease.

After trawling through more than 12,000 drugs, researchers led by America’s Yale University found one which prevents two proteins combining in the brain.

These proteins, called prions and amyloid, together destroy pathways which allow brain cells to ‘talk’ to each other.

Scientists bred mice to have symptoms resembling Alzheimer’s. The rodents’ memories greatly improved after drinking the mixture, and they managed to negotiate a special maze. Researchers hope that it could be made into a tablet suitable for humans within ten years.

Stephen Strittmatter, senior author of the study and professor of neuroscience at the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre, said: ‘This approach works by protecting the neural pathways in the brain.

‘It prevents damage to the connections between the brain cells, and we hope the first human trials could begin in two years.’

There are an estimated 55,000 people living with dementia in Ireland, with that number set to exceed 68,000 in the next ten years.

Scientists trying to find treatments for Alzheimer’s have previously focused on trying to destroy amyloid – one of the two proteins which snarl up the brain and cause memory loss. The latest attempt focused on stopping amyloid binding to other proteins called prions, which make it so toxic.

The two proteins together destroy synapses – or ‘junctions’ between brain cells. But the drug saved 92% of these synapses when added to brain cells in the laboratory.

And while the drug has so far only been found to work in mice, it is unusual in crossing the blood-brain barrier. It can also be swallowed, while most proposed dementia treatments are in the form of a jab.