Healthy Life Plans

Doctors are calling for a clinical trial of an experimental drug treatment that it is claimed can reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease “in minutes”. U.S. researchers say the treatment allowed an 82-year-old sufferer to recognize his wife for the first time in years.

In the UK, specialists believe the claims should be properly tested as only a few patients have been treated so far. The treatment involves injecting a drug called Enbrel, which is normally used to treat arthritis, into the spine at the neck.

Patients are then tilted to encourage blood flow into the brain where the drug is designed to block a chemical responsible for inflammation. At least one Alzheimer’s patient had his symptoms reversed “in minutes” while others have shown some continuing improvement in problems such as forgetfulness and confusion after weekly injections..

In one case, the clinic has video evidence of Marvin Miller, 82, which showed he was unable to answer basic questions by a nurse, or identify-everyday objects like a bracelet and a pencil. Shortly afterwards he is injected with the drug and it is claimed that five minutes later he could greet his shocked wife, who said he had not recognized her for years.

The experiment follows the discovery that levels of TNF (tumor necrosis factor) can be up to 25 times higher in the fluid surrounding the brain in sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease. Enbrel, a biologic treatment licensed for rheumatoid arthritis, binds to excess TNF in the body and deactivates it.

When used by arthritis sufferers, the drug is self-administered by injection and researchers had to develop a way of injecting the drug into the spine in order to get an effect in brain cells. Enbrel is not approved for treating Alzheimer’s in the U.S. or in the UK and is regarded at this stage as a highly experimental therapy.

This really is a great achievement for these doctors and scientists. Being able to detect what might cause Alzheimer’s disease, and actually reversing it to a degree. I think the next thing to do is find out what causes Alzheimer’s disease in the first place and working on preventing it, not just treating it.