New research could help treat Alzheimer's disease

According to a study published online December 7, 2018 in the journal Neurology, a scientific strategy to explore therapeutic targets based on aging biology is becoming an effective way to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease.
the study provides a comprehensive review of clinical trials, including ongoing research into drugs used to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease (and other dementias), noting the need to develop and test drugs based on an understanding of the multiple effects of aging on the brain.
"Alzheimer's disease is a complex disease with many different factors that lead to its onset and progression," said Dr Howard Fillit, founding executive director and chief scientific officer of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), senior author of the review. "Decades of research have revealed common processes associated with understanding why the aging brain is susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. New treatments for Alzheimer's disease will come from an understanding of the effects of aging on the brain. The
approved drug for Alzheimer's disease alleviates some of the symptoms, but does not stop the disease from progressing. There is an urgent need for new treatments to prevent, slow or stop disease to combat the growing burden of Alzheimer's disease in the United States and around the world. Dr Fillit points out that aging biology offers many new targets for the development of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
"Our success in the fight against Alzheimer's disease is likely to come from combined therapy drugs that can have a positive impact on people's malfunctions as they get older," Dr. Fillit said. "Combined therapy is standard for treating other major diseases in the elderly, such as heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure, and may be necessary to treat Alzheimer's disease and other dementias."
age is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, an aggressive neurodegenerative disease that affects 5 million people in the United States and about 50 million worldwide. As the population ages, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the burden of Alzheimer's disease will nearly triple to 14 million by 2060.
with aging, many biological processes have been wrong, and these processes are also associated with Alzheimer's disease. For example, as people get older, they are more likely to suffer from chronic systemic inflammation and neuro-inflammation, which are associated with poor cognitive function. Other aging failures include damage to the removal of toxic misfolded proteins, mitochondrial and metabolic dysfunction (associated with diabetes), vascular problems, oscic genetic changes (changes in gene regulation without changes in DNA sequences) and synaptic loss (communication points between neurons).
late-stage (Phase 3) trials are focused on β-amyloid proteins and tau drugs, which are typical pathological markers of Alzheimer's disease (Phase 3 trials, 52% for amyloid or tau), but other strategies are progressing and, according to the commentary, Phase 1 or Phase 2 trials.
Although treatment attempts to remove or reduce the production of β-amyloid protein have been largely unsuccessful in changing the course of Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Fillit said the researchers obtained important information from those clinical trials, even if they did not immediately treat Alzheimer's patients. Recent clinical trials have shown β removal of alkal-amyloid proteins may prove to be effective.
"It's not clear whether these classic pathology (amyloid and tau) represent effective drug targets, and whether these targets alone are sufficient to treat Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Fillit said. "Common biological processes for aging may be an effective way to develop treatments to prevent or delay geriatric diseases, such as Alzheimer's." (Bio Valley)