Alzheimer Breakthrough Has Researchers Excited

It is a terrible disease that robs you not only of your memories and your mind, but eventually your life.

 

Thousands of Canadian families are coping with the agony of Alzheimer’s disease, but up until now there were only a few medications that could slow its progress, not prevent it.

 

But now a new drug holds promise for stopping the ailment in its tracks, before it can create a toxin that kills cells in the brain.

 

It goes by the moniker AZD-103 but for those who’ve seen what the disease can do to a loved one, it has another name – hope.

 

Hilda Harris’ husband first began showing symptoms of the illness 15 years ago, when he started to forget things. His wife of 61 years has been caring for him ever since. And it hasn’t been easy.

 

“You put on a happy face,” she explains. “But nobody knows how you feel inside.”

 

Her family hasn’t been as supportive as she might have hoped, but she tries to understand. “My son won’t accept it, ” she laments. “Cause she figures ‘that’s going to happen to me’, you know.”

 

Which is why the drug holds so much promise.

Scientists at the U. of  T.  took mice that were genetically programmed to have Alzheimer’s and gave them the drug.

They found that it could actually prevent the creatures from getting the disease, and in the ones that already had it , it not only stopped it in its tracks  – it even reversed some of the damage.

  It’s not exactly a cure, more of a preventative measure.   All that’s required now are more tests to see if it can turn that promise into a guarantee.

 

“This has to go to clinical trial for us to know if it will work or not in humans,” explains Professor Joanne McLaurin.  “One clinical trial started two weeks ago.”

If it works, the drug would not only be given to current patients but those genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s. It could be just what’s needed to ease what surveys show is amongst the biggest concerns for baby boomers as they age.

It may not help Hilda,   but she’s hoping those who follow in her very lonely footsteps will benefit. Until then, she shows up at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre veteran’s wing every day, soldiering on.

“He still knows me though,” she assures. “And then I give him a little shot of liquor every day,” she laughs, hiding the tears behind a sense of humour.

Until the new drug proves its worth, that shot may be the best medicine of all.