According to the Alzheimer’s Association, there are presently 5 million Americans living with the illness. They also predict that by the year 2050, that number will rise to 13.5 million.
In recent years, researchers have been working to develop an Alzheimer’s disease therapy that makes use of ultrasound technology to help patients’ brains get rid of the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that impair their memory.
According to Science Alert, the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are the two types of lesions that cause Alzheimer’s disease. Beta-amyloid molecule clusters clump together as a result of the amyloid plaques becoming lodged between neurons.
Neurofibrillary tangles, which clump up similarly, are found in the brain’s neurons. Microtubules consequently become twisted, which makes it challenging for the brain to carry the necessary components to maintain our memory.
Alzheimer’s disease has long lacked a treatment or preventative measure. Numerous medications that are meant to treat the sickness have been developed, but none have succeeded in curing it.
A trial on a novel treatment—ultrasound therapies—began in 2015 by researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland. According to the study, amyloid plaques that impair brain function can be removed from the brain using ultrasound.
75% of the rats they used in their study who received ultrasound therapy had their memory function regained.
Jürgen Götz, one of the study’s co-authors, said, “We’re quite encouraged by this idea of treating Alzheimer’s without employing medication therapies. The term “breakthrough” is frequently misused, but in this instance, I believe it profoundly alters how we view how to treat this illness, and I anticipate a bright future for this strategy.
Focused ultrasound has started to be utilized in clinical studies now, four years after it was first introduced. It is customary (as in the original study) for novel medicines to start with mice before moving on to human trials. It can take some time before it is accepted as a treatment that will be provided to patients on a regular basis. When it does, though, it might prove to be a wonderful, helpful new treatment for many people who are currently afflicted with the illness.
According to a statement made by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation last year, a clinical experiment that repeatedly opens the BBB in Alzheimer’s patients is currently taking place at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of the trial is to temporarily open the BBB in individuals with mild to moderate AD using focused ultrasound and microbubbles. This preliminary investigation will evaluate the reproducibility of repeated BBB opening in human patients as well as the safety, feasibility, and reversibility of BBB opening.
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