Why do so many clinical trials for Alzheimer’s fail? New discovery sheds light

Written by Sharon Salt, Editor

Researchers have discovered a vicious feedback loop underlying brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s disease, which may explain why so many drug trials have failed. The study also identifies a clinically approved drug – fasudil – that could break the vicious cycle and protects against memory loss in animal models of Alzheimer’s. Overproduction of the protein β-amyloid is strongly linked to development of Alzheimer’s disease but many drugs targeting β-amyloid have failed in clinical trials. β-amyloid attacks and destroys synapses and results in memory problems, dementia and ultimately death. In this new study, which is published in Translational Psychiatry, researchers found that...

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