In This Article
Subscribe to Health Updates
New Hope for Alzheimer’s Patients
January 10, 2008 05:46 PM
(Click for citation)
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Researchers in Los Angeles experimenting with spinal injections of a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis say that it can reverse the cognitive problems of Alzheimer’s.
30-Second Summary
A case report published this week in the Journal of Neuroinflammation details the marked improvement of a man with Alzheimer’s disease who received a spinal injection of etanercept, known by the brand name Enbrel. Within 10 minutes he appeared happier and better able to answer questions about where he was.
A man who was identified only as a member of the patient’s family described the before-and-after as “the single most remarkable thing I have ever seen. That was amazing,” according to a video that accompanied the case report.
Enbrel was approved in 1998. It is one of three drugs that block the tumor necrosis factor, or TNF-alpha protein, that rallies white blood cells to fight infections. People with rheumatoid arthritis are unable to rid their bodies of the protein, and the build-up becomes harmful. Studies have shown that TNF-alpha plays a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
The private Institute for Neurological Research and University of California at Los Angeles researchers acknowledged that everyone involved knew about the injection, so it is possible that the improvement was psychological rather than physical. The authors say that they have seen the same results in other patients who received etanercept injections over three years of clinical trials.
One Alzheimer’s research advocate said that much more work needs to be done to determine whether these injections could benefit many more Alzheimer’s sufferers.
A man who was identified only as a member of the patient’s family described the before-and-after as “the single most remarkable thing I have ever seen. That was amazing,” according to a video that accompanied the case report.
Enbrel was approved in 1998. It is one of three drugs that block the tumor necrosis factor, or TNF-alpha protein, that rallies white blood cells to fight infections. People with rheumatoid arthritis are unable to rid their bodies of the protein, and the build-up becomes harmful. Studies have shown that TNF-alpha plays a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
The private Institute for Neurological Research and University of California at Los Angeles researchers acknowledged that everyone involved knew about the injection, so it is possible that the improvement was psychological rather than physical. The authors say that they have seen the same results in other patients who received etanercept injections over three years of clinical trials.
One Alzheimer’s research advocate said that much more work needs to be done to determine whether these injections could benefit many more Alzheimer’s sufferers.
Headline Link: ‘Study: Arthritis Drug Shows Promise in Reversing Symptoms of Alzheimer's’
Enbrel, a drug currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, has been used to reverse symptoms in an Alzheimer’s patient when it is injected in the spine, according to a case report published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. An editor of the journal said the study was “exciting.” “It is unprecedented that we can see cognitive and behavioral improvement in a patient with established dementia within minutes of therapeutic intervention,” said Sue Griffin, a professor at the University of Arkansas.
Source: Fox News
Reaction: Cautious optimism, ‘dramatic change’
The head of a British Alzheimer’s group called the study “promising and innovative,” but also said the concept is in the early stages. “We need to investigate whether it is safe and works in a larger number of patients as well as monitor the long-term effects,” said Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, in a statement posted to the organization’s Web site. “Scientists also need to check the benefits weren’t just due to the placebo effect and establish whether any benefit is just temporary or whether the disease itself is slowed.”
Source: Alzheimer’s Research Trust
Sue Griffin, an editor of the journal the report appeared in, traveled to Los Angeles in November to watch the perispinal injection and its effects. “I noticed clinical improvement in each of the three patients within minutes following treatment. My first impression was that there was a clear, easily discernible, difference in each. They were more cheerful, more at ease, and more attentive.” The etanercept treatment, she said, “provides a new approach to regulation of the role that cytokines play in pathogenesis.”
Source: Journal of Neuroinflammation
A woman talks about the changes she saw once her ex-husband received the etanercept treatment in a five-minute video published by the Institute for Neurological Research, a private company involved in the Journal of Neuroinflammation study. The woman said her ex-husband, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and another type of dementia, had been despondent, didn’t talk and needed a wheelchair to get around. After receiving one treatment, he could walk without a cane, spoke more, was happy and even made jokes. She described the change as “marvelous, unbelievable.”
Source: Institute for Neurological Research
Background: Etanercept report, TNF-alpha inhibitors
A case report examines an 81-year-old man at a later stage of Alzheimer’s disease. The day before he received an injection of etanercept, he couldn’t easily remember his birthday or name any doctors who had treated him. His performance on standard memory tests two hours after receiving the injection was much better than the day before. A week later, the patient’s wife and son said the improvements had lasted throughout the week, “a fact which was remarked upon by the family.” Though a placebo effect can’t be eliminated as an explanation, the authors say they have seen similar results in others that have received the same treatment in the last three years of trials. Click on the link on the last page to watch an interview with the patient’s son and wife.
Source: Journal of Neuroinflammation
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is a protein our bodies make that helps bring white blood cells together to fight a threat, causing inflammation in a particular spot. But some people’s bodies don’t get rid of TNF-alpha, and the protein keeps drawing white blood cells, which leads to damaged tissue. TNF-alpha inhibitors block this response to help manage conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. Three TNF-alpha inhibitors are approved for use, but none are administered as Etanercept was in the case report. Patients must inject Etanercept and Adalimumab in the thigh, abdomen or upper arm. Infliximab is given intravenously over the course of a few hours each session.
Source: The Mayo Clinic
© 2010 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
