A vaccine for Alzheimer’s may be on the way
Dementia is the second-leading cause of death in Australia, with more than 350,000 people currently suffering the disease. However, an end to the cruel disease could be coming much sooner than you might think – in three years, to be exact.
A breakthrough has been discovered by South Australia’s Flinders University and the University of California’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, and the results are so promising that human trials have been approved.
It’s believed that Alzheimer’s, which is caused by the degeneration of two proteins in the brain, could be prevented with a new vaccine which will produce antibodies to help repair these broken proteins.
“Vaccine shows promise for both preventative and therapeutic approaches,” a report published in the Nature’s Scientific Reports journal said.
Flinders University medical professor Nikolai Petrovsky told 9 News that if the trials are a success, a vaccine could be rolled out very soon. “In three to five years we could be well on the way to one of the most important developments in recent medical history.”
Related links:
The long goodbye: Alzheimer’s disease
How to reduce your risk of dementia
Are you ever too old to train your brain?