Monday, April 14, 2008
Amgen - Enbrel: awakenings in Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's patients given a drug usually used to treat arthritis have shown dramatic improvements, leading to hopes of a breakthrough in treating the disease.
Telegraph TV: New Alzheimer's therapy brings hope
Doctors claim that injecting patients in the neck with etanercept relieves their symptoms for 90 per cent of the day, and in some cases can restore sufferers' memories within minutes.
Wikipedia says:
Etanercept (Enbrel) is a recombinant-DNA drug made by combining two proteins (a fusion protein). It links human soluble tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) receptor to the Fc component of human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1).
It is a large molecule, with a molecular weight of 150 kDa., that binds to TNFα and decreases its role in disorders involving excess inflammation in humans and other animals, including autoimmune diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis,[1] juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and, potentially, in a variety of other disorders mediated by excess TNFα.
This therapeutic potential is based on the fact that TNF-alpha is the "master regulator" (as coined by Marc Feldmann, Phd, and Ravinder N. Maini BCh, recipients of the 2003 Lasker Award for their anti-TNF research in rheumatoid arthritis) of the inflammatory response in many organ systems. [2]
In the United States and the United Kingdom, etanercept is co-marketed by Amgen and Wyeth under the trade name Enbrel in two separate formulations, one in powder form, the other as a pre-mixed liquid.
More at The Daily Telegraph
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
My Mother has Alzheimer's and the only FDA approved treatments available only help return up to 5% functionality of Alzheimer's patients for a limited amount of time.
There are drugs being developed right now that may effect a positive change in the underlying causes of alzheimer's which the current treatments do not. THEY ARE YEARS AWAY.
Now we come across a new off label treatment using Enbrel. It is injected into the neck and is showing drastic and sustained improvements with few or no side effects shown in patients. Quality of life is improved, functionality is improved and communications skills are improved. There is one lady in particular being treated who was completely mute and now can speak and interact with her husband better.
Please check out this story and write more articles about it. The stories regarding the patients being treated with Enbrel are all over Youtube and the Alzheimer's forums. Please take a look and see for yourself.
Unfortunately, there are also journalists out there who are not covering the story in a balanced way and are helping to block this treatment from going mainstream.
This is so important for so many people that it is negligent for the right people to not investigate this with an open mind. IT CAN NO LONGER BE SAID THAT THERE IS NO TREATMENT FOR ALZHEIMER'S BECAUSE THERE IS PROOF OUT THERE THAT THERE IS!
Post a Comment