X-Message-Number: 24653
Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 20:20:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Decreasing Toxins in Brains of Alzheimer's Patients

(To my knowledge this is the first documented complete halting of
Alzheimer's disease progression.)

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Philadelphia, PA)  The ever-slowing capacity to clear the build-up of
such toxins as isoprostanes and misfolded proteins that accumulate in
the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients causes the death of cells
involved in memory and language. Domenico Pratico, MD, Associate
Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine, and colleagues have shown in a preliminary study that reducing
the levels of isoprostanes, which specifically reflect oxidative damage
in the brain, by draining cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) can stave off
future reductions in cognitive abilities. This work appears in the
August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

As measured by a paper-and-pencil cognitive test, the researchers found
that scores of the eight patients who had the specially designed shunt
continuously operating for one year stayed stable. However, the scores
of the patients who did not get the shunt declined by 20 percent after
12 months. What s interesting is that the patients without the shunt
didn t stop taking their regular Alzheimer medication, such as
anti-cholinesterase, says Pratico.

Over 12 months, the isoprostanes were reduced by about 50 percent
compared to Alzheimer s patients taking standard anti-Alzheimer oral
medications alone. We were very happy to see this amount of reduction,
says Pratico, who adds that the research team predicted reductions only
half that size. Additionally, the normal components of CSF like glucose
and immunoglobulins did not change after the shunt was placed in
patients. The shunt has a selective capacity to filter out toxins of a
specific molecular weight and size, in this case isoprostanes.

Applying a treatment for hydrocephalus to Alzheimer's disease, the
microns-wide shunt, or catheter, is placed subcutaneously in a space at
the base of the cerebellum. It runs under the skin to the peritoneum, a
space in the belly where body fluids accumulate before flowing to the
kidney to be filtered and eventually eliminated in the urine. The shunt
is put in once, drains continuously, and is cleaned out periodically by
a neurologist.

The eight patients still have their shunts and there are now almost 100
patients recruited into the next phase of the study, which is being
conducted at Stanford University.

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