Alzheimer’s treatment has new hope of life

A nasal vaccine is currently being tested in humans for the first time. It’s been a long wait (give or take 20 years), but at last Alzheimer’s disease sufferers may now have some hope.

At the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston, Massachusetts, the first human study of an intranasal vaccination for the disease is presently underway. Until the only medications available were for managing Alzheimer’s symptoms such as memory loss and insomnia.

Protollin, an immune modulator consisting of bacterium proteins, will be used to boost the immune system in the vaccine, which will be administered through a nasal spray.

Scientists think that by doing so, they will be able to activate white blood cells in lymph nodes, which will then travel to the brain and induce the elimination of beta-amyloid plaque, which is formed when beta-amyloid protein fragments clump together and cause Alzheimer’s disease. This could help to reduce or even stop the progression of the disease.

The goal of the phase 1 trial is to establish the vaccine’s safety and tolerability, as well as its impact on participants’ immune responses. Only 16 participants with Alzheimer’s symptoms, aged 60 to 85, are enrolled in the study.

Read more: Scientists discover the cause of Alzheimer’s progression in brain

Dr. Howard Weiner, co-director of BWH’s Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, called the trial “a remarkable milestone” in a statement.

“If clinical trials in humans show that the vaccine is safe and effective, this could represent a nontoxic treatment for people with Alzheimer’s, and it could also be given early to help prevent Alzheimer’s in people at risk,” he added.

As per the World Health Organization, the condition affects roughly 55 million people, “As the proportion of older people in the population is increasing in nearly every country, this number is expected to rise to 78 million in 2030 and 139 million in 2050.”

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