New Hope for 4 Million Americans : Alzheimer’s disease progress from Dr. Cotman and colleagues at UC Irvine

Few diseases bring more despair than Alzheimer’s, the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. It has no known cause or cure, and afflicts its elderly sufferers with memory loss, disorientation, depression and a breakdown of the body’s functions. Families watch with anguish as loved ones stare at them blankly, unknowingly, on the road to death.

But last week brought two welcome glimmers of hope that the cause of this terrible affliction, and potential treatment, may be getting closer than ever. Caution is in order, as it is with most advances in medicine. Sudden cures are few; decades of painstaking research is more the norm.

Dr. Carl W. Cotman of UC Irvine and colleagues have reported that a protein associated with Alzheimer’s does not kill cells outright but in effect causes them to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis. Because apoptosis can be controlled naturally by the body, it should be susceptible to control by drugs. That could halt the degeneration of the brain’s nerve cells that characterizes Alzheimer’s.

Another promising step in fighting the disease was the announcement that a laboratory skin test developed at the National Institutes of Health may identify just who has Alzheimer’s. Currently, the only way to determine if a mental deterioration is indeed Alzheimer’s is to rule out all other forms of dementia, an expensive and time-consuming process. Also, in Alzheimer’s as with any disease, early detection of all diseases will make treatment more effective.

Scientists studying the disease, and officials of the Alzheimer’s Assn., struck the proper note of muted enthusiasm about this progress, noting that the latest steps filled in more parts of the puzzle. Still, the announcements are more good news in a year that has brought advances on other medical fronts, including the discovery of the gene that causes Huntington’s disease and a drug to fight multiple sclerosis.

Past claims of breakthroughs in the fight against Alzheimer’s have proved premature, and more research is needed. But the latest developments offer hope for 4 million afflicted Americans, and their loved ones.