Alzheimer's disease is an illness of the brain that causes memory loss and other losses in cognitive function, as well as being responsible for over half of all dementia cases. Because there isn't a cure or treatment that can reverse the deterioration of mental function due to Alzheimer's, prevention is often people's best hope of not getting the disease. And now, researchers at the University of New Mexico are working on a preventative treatment in an unlikely form: a vaccine.
While usually vaccines target illnesses that are caused by invasive microorganisms like bacteria and viruses, this one actually targets a protein that is often found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, reported KRQE, an affiliate of CBS. The protein, called "pathological tau," was successfully cleared by the antibodies in the vaccine when tested on mice with Alzheimer's.
To test the effectiveness of pathological tau's removal, the researchers put the mice through a series of "maze-like tests," in which the mice that received the vaccine did reliably better than those that didn't. But of course, there's still a long road between testing a vaccine on mice and getting it ready for humans.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The researchers, Kiran Bhaskar and Nicole Maphis, still need to secure funding in order to create a vaccine that could be tested in humans. And once that's complete, the FDA approval process could take an additional 5 years. But they're still pleased with the results of their initial study: "I really wanted to take this as a challenge," said Bhaskar, who has been working towards an Alzheimer's cure since 2013.
Read more at KRQE.
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
