Researchers at bio-tech firm Neuro-Bio, based in Oxford, have made a significant discovery about the causes of dementia. Almost 900,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia, and nearly 70,000 die from it every year. The number of suffers has been projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.
Research to date has focused on developing drugs to destroy amyloid plaques (protein deposits) that build up in the brain, affecting memory and cognitive function. However, recent studies show no improvement in symptoms after taking these drugs.
Research by a team led by Dr Susan Greenfield's on the causes of Alzheimer's dementia has led to the hypothesis that something else could be the initial cause and that amyloid plaques build up well after brain degeneration has begun.
New studies have shown that cells at the centre of the brain, in the isodendritic core, are the first to begin dying in the brain of someone with Alzheimer's disease (the most common form of dementia) often ten to 15 years before they experience symptoms. When these cells die, it sets off a snowball effect, causing more and more cells to die.
While scientists are still unsure why this process begins, Neuro-Bio claims to have found a molecule responsible for causing the damage, called T14. They have developed a drug to limit the cell damage caused by T14 and initial trials on mice show this is effective.
Human trials are expected to follow, to investigate whether it is safe and effective in humans. The treatment is given as a nasal spray.
T14 can also be measured in blood and Neuro-Bio is also developing this biomarker as a companion diagnostic.
Source: Oxford scientists hail major breakthrough which could provide relief to 900,000 Britons with dementia by Ethan Ennals, Daily Mail, 2nd April 2022.
