clinical trial

Positive news from clinical Alzheimer's research is rare. In hardly any other indication do pharmaceutical companies have to accept as many setbacks as here. To date, pharmacological approaches to treating Alzheimer's have been almost uniformly unsuccessful, with more than 400 failed clinical trials. Since 2002, there has been no new approval in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.     That changed on June 7, 2021, when the drug Aducanumab, from U.S. biotech Biogen (and its Japanese research partner Eisai), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The drug, which is administered intravenously to patients, will be available in the U.S. under the trade mark Aduhelm.     Aduhelm works on the basis of passive immunization. It is a monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid-ß, a protein characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. These amyloid-ß proteins make up the deposits in the brain, known as plaques, which are associated with the destruction of neurones. Aduhelm's mechanism of action is based on promoting the breakdown of β-amyloid, thereby reducing the harmful plaques.  

It's been a long road for Dr. Dale Bredesen in Alzheimer's research: He worked for years as a scientist and studied dying brain cells, fruit flies with "Alzflymer" and transgenic mice with "Mouzheimer's." But his applications for clinical trials that could demonstrate proof of efficacy of his research concepts in patients were first rejected in 2011 and again in 2018. Instead, he published treatment successes in his patients in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Finally, in 2019, he received approval to conduct a clinical trial, which was then completed last year.  

Physical exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, contributing to general fitness, muscle control and coordination, and to a sense of wellbeing. Physical exercise is also essential for maintaining adequate blood flow to the brain and may stimulate brain cell growth and survival. Evidence of the effects of physical exercise in the prevention of dementia have been supported by many observational studies. The results of randomized trials suggest that exercise leads to increases in brain tissue, including the hippocampus and elevate blood levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), stimulating the formation of new nerve cells.