Aug. 11, 2006 - 20:30 MDT

A STEP AHEAD

Funky phraseology fails to dislodge good news, at least in my book it does. An article in the Rocky Mountain News this morning by Lauran Neergard of the Associated Press has a weird headline, but seems to bear good news. Herewith quoted in full:

WASHINGTON --"Scientists have discovered molecular janitors that clear away a sticky gunk blamed for Alzheimer's disease -- until they get old and quit sweeping up."

"The finding helps explain why Alzheimer's is a disease of aging. More importantly, it suggests a new weapon: drugs that give nature's cleanup crews a boost."

"It's a whole new way of thinking in the Alzheimer's field," said Dr. Andrew Dillin, a bioloigist at California's Salk Institute for Biological Studies who led the new research."

"The discovery, published Thursday by the journal Science, was made in roundworm called C. elegans."

"What do worms have to do with people ? They're commonly used in age-related genetics research, and the new work involves a collection of genes that people harbor, too. Dillin's team from Salk and the neighboring Scripps Research Institute already is on the trail of potential drug candidates."

"About 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, a toll expected to more than triple by 2050 as the population grays. The creeping brain disease gradually robs sufferers of their memories and ability to care for themselves, eventually killing them. There is no known cure, today's drugs only temporarily alleviate symptoms."

Nor does anyone know what causes Alzheimer's. The lead suspect is a gooey protein called beta-amyloid. All brains contain it, although healthy cells somehow get rid of excess amounts. But beta-amyloid builds up in Alzheimer's patients, both inside their brain cells and forming clumps that coat the cells -- plaque that is the disease's hallmark."

"Thursday's study reveals one way that cells fend off amyloid buildup, and that natural aging gradually erodes that detoxification process."

"Every pathway we can discover that modifies amyhloid provides us with new drug targets," said Dr. Sam Gandy, a neuroscientist at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson Universtiy and an Alzheimer's Association spokesman. "This now opens up a new pathway for developing anti-Alzheimer's drugs."

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This line of research is especially of interest to me. My sister-in-law has been in a facility for Alzheimer's patients for around 12 years, and was pretty far gone into Alzheimer's before she was put there. The dear lady was the sharpest tack in the famlly, handling her parent's business matters, while working a job and raising her children.

But her light of awareness and knowledge dimmed gradually until she became a live body with little sentience, responding but little to stimuli.

Many nursing homes now have wings for Alzheimer's patients, so obviously their numbers are growing.

It is cruel for loved ones to see a relative become a mindless being, alive but not really alive. Visting them, sitting with them, remembering them as they once were, trying to comfort them and show them love, hoping for a glimmering of recognition now and then.

Of course it probably will take many years before drugs are discovered and perfected that will prevent Alsheimer's, but perhaps they will help one of our great-grandchildren or their children, or their children's children from suffering the loss of sentience. At least, like in many other medical researches, it is A STEP AHEAD . . . . . . . . . . .

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