BOSTON (WHDH) - A new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease is showing promising signs as researchers at Mass General Brigham recently found a monoclonal antibody treatment protected mice from proteins that cause the disease.
Researchers published their study this week. Speaking with 7NEWS, one researcher discussed the origins of the work as well as the steps ahead.
Doctors first studied individuals who were at high risk of getting Alzheimers but who did not get the disease. Doctors were then surprised at what they found in one subject.
“By studying this one individual, we identified a gene that protected her and, inspired in that knowledge, we developed a new therapy that we hope can help other people that were not as lucky as her and don’t have that protected gene variant,” said researcher Dr. Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez.
Researchers are optimistic they’re headed toward a cure and they hope everyone can use this antibody in the future.
“My hope is that, if this new therapy is effective, it can be given to a very large number of individuals either because they have gene susceptibility or simply because they are getting older,” Arboleda-Velasquez said.
Doctors stress that, although we have made progress, Alzheimer’s research needs to be a priority because it affects so many Americans.
“We have like about six million people in the United States suffering from Alzheimer’s with very few alternatives for them to be treated so there is an urgent need and we need to be able to match it,” Arboleda-Velasquez said.
Doctors are hoping the Alzheimer’s treatment will be approved for use in humans in the next two to three years.
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