Treatment that reverses memory loss brings the Alzheimer's vaccine closer

Researchers in Britain and Germany have developed a vaccine that can reverse memory loss in mice.

The new treatment paves the way for the development of a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease, with scientists saying they want to start human trials as soon as possible.

The drug trains the immune system to fight a sticky amyloid beta protein that accumulates in the brain of people with dementia, blocking communication between neurons.

All the drugs used for Alzheimer's disease so far have tried to target the same protein, but without success and in some endings with negative side effects.

Researchers from the University of Leicester and the University of Gτινttingen have observed that in people with dementia the protein folds and takes on a different shape than usual. So they assumed that if they gave the vaccine an amyloid beta protein in the same regimen, then the body would be activated wanting to neutralize it. This is how he is trained to deal with the protein that causes damage to the brain.

Professor Mark Carr of the University of Leicester, co-lead author of the study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, said: that changes what we know.

"It opens up the possibility not only of curing Alzheimer's once and for all, but also of potentially vaccinating the population before symptoms of the disease appear," said the British professor.