Bob Larson
After decades of disappointment, a new discovery on fighting Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) may have been found. Compelling evidence that the condition is caused by a bacterium involved in gum disease could prove a game-changer in resolving one of medicine’s greatest mysteries. It may lead to effective treatments for AD.
As populations have aged, dementia has skyrocketed to become the fifth largest cause of death worldwide. Alzheimer’s constitutes 70 per cent of these cases, yet scientists don’t know what causes AD. According to a recent study, the failure rate of drug development for Alzheimer’s has been 99 percent.
Multiple worldwide medical teams have been researching Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG), the main bacterium involved in gum disease, which is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Different medical teams have found that PG can cause Alzheimer’s-like brain inflammation, neural damage, and amyloid plaques in healthy mice. “When science converges from multiple independent laboratories, it is very compelling,” says Casey Lynch of Cortexyme, a pharmaceutical firm in San Francisco.
If this new hypothesis is correct, the good news is that it could lead to effective treatments for curing AD. Cortexyme is hoping it can stop or even reverse AD using anti-PG blockers. The firm found that giving these blockers to mice with PG infections have reduced brain infection, halted amyloid production, lowered brain inflammation, and even rescued damaged neurons.
This new concept provides hope in treating or preventing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. The firm will launch a larger medical trial later this year. According to Lynch, “A vaccine for gum disease would be also welcome, and if it also stops Alzheimer’s, the impact could be enormous.” This is another great use of technology in making our human race healthier.
~ Bob Larson is a technologist and Marketing Director for 50 Plus.