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Journalism of Courage
Scientists are currently testing a jab on British patients with mild memory problems,which they claim may help ward of the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages.
A team,led by Alzheimer’s expert Dr Richard Perry,says that in its trial the first jabs have been given to nearly 50 men and women with mild memory problems — in fact,they will be given monthly injections of the drug which the scientists say could be in widespread use in five years.
Unlike other drugs,which are given once dementia has taken hold,the new medication,called gantenerumab,is designed to set to work when symptoms are confined to slight memory lapses,the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.
The drug is not a cure,but slowing the development of dementia would allow people to live normally for longer,delaying the time when they have to give up work and perhaps go into care,say the scientists.
“There is no guarantee but this is the best chance of a medication that is going to affect the underlying condition at the earliest stage,” Dr Perry of the ReCognition Health memory clinic was quoted as saying.
Current drugs tackle the symptoms of Alzheimer’s rather than the underlying damage,and are given once it has taken hold. They do not work for everyone and the effects wear off after time.
