Dementia Support Line
DNA vaccine reduces toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease - Alzheimer's Society comment
Tuesday 20 November 2018
A study has found that a DNA vaccine tested in mice reduces accumulation of both toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease (beta-amyloid and tau).
The study by UT Southwestern's Peter O'Donnell Jr Brain Institute was published today in the Alzheimer's Research and Therapy journal.
Dr James Pickett, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Society, said:
'Dementia is the only one of the top ten killers that we can’t stop or even slow down, so a treatment that clears these toxic proteins and delays disease progression would be a significant step. But this is early research in a small group of mice, so we don’t know if this vaccine is safe, if it would benefit people with dementia or if it could trigger a dangerous response like brain swelling.
'Therapies like this are most likely to be effective in the very early stages of the disease, so improving speed and accuracy of dementia diagnosis goes hand in hand with our search for new treatments, which is why our researchers are working hard to find ways of spotting the disease before symptoms emerge.'
What are the symptoms of dementia?
Each person is unique and will experience dementia in their own way. We explain some of the symptoms someone affected by dementia might experience.
