Happy Monday, readers—I hope you had a perfect weekend.
Alzheimer’s and dementia researchers have had to bear a cascade of heartbreaking drug improvement screw-ups in current years. Traditional pharmaceutical remedies based totally on the “beta-amyloid” theory have failed… and failed… and failed once more.
So perhaps it’s not unexpected that some scientists are hitching their wagons to considerably different techniques. A group of Boston University researchers declares that a shape of electrical mind stimulation has produced surprising (if very early) results in boosting cognitive abilities.
It’s essential to take these varieties of initial effects with a grain (or ten) of salt. After all, greater conventional Alzheimer’s drug hopefuls have shown early promise best to face humiliating defeats down the road.
But the research is undeniably exciting. Neuroscientists observed that electrically (however harmlessly) zapping the regions of the mind associated with what’s called “running memory”—i.E., brief-term memories crucial to accomplishing sure immediate obligations—can quickly improve this form of reminiscence in older human beings. In truth, the electric bridging of the prefrontal and temporal areas of the brain reportedly helped improve running memory characteristics in older adults to comparable tiers as people who were substantially more youthful.
Still, this wasn’t a randomized medical trial, and it truly wasn’t a robust one. When it involves dementia treatment, beyond enjoy suggests a careful outlook.
DIGITAL HEALTH
Does telemedicine convey an antibiotic hazard? A new observation suggests a correlation between the use of telemedicine and extended antibiotic prescriptions, in line with the Associated Press. In reality, the University of Pittsburgh researchers located that telemedicine visits weren’t simply associated with some distance extra antibiotic use with the aid of youngsters—they were connected to prescriptions that didn’t follow not unusual guidelines for such treatment plans. (Associated Press)
INDICATIONS
FDA approves Glaxo’s two-drug HIV routine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday accredited British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline’s pioneering -drug combination therapy to treat a form of HIV. “Currently, the same old of taking care of patients who have by no means been dealt with is a three-drug regimen. With this approval, patients who’ve by no means been treated have the option of taking a -drug routine in an unmarried pill even as putting off extra toxicity and ability drug interactions from a 3rd drug,” defined the FDA’s Dr. Debra Birnkrant, who heads the antiviral products arm of the enterprise. Fewer remedies in a drug routine normally correspond with fewer side results and maybe cheaper. The GSK drug is known as Lovato. (FDA)
Regeneron strikes an $800 million Alnylam deal. Regeneron is setting its money wherein its mouth is on gene treatment options, striking an $800 million deal (in straight-up cash and equity) with the “gene silencing” biotech Alnylam. Alnylam has focused on RNA interference treatments, a way of disrupting gene conversation used to make certain proteins (which may be associated with positive sicknesses).
THE BIG PICTURE
Measles instances preserve upward thrust. There have now been 465 stated instances of measles within the U.S. This year, a seventy-eight-case growth from just ultimate week that threatens to fit 2014’s all-time report, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reviews. (CNN)
