Alzheimer’s Vaccine Trial a Success

[TECH NEWS]

A study led by Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and published in Lancet Neurology reports for the first time the positive effects of an active vaccine against Alzheimer’s disease. The new vaccine, CAD106, could prove a breakthrough in the search for a cure for this seriously debilitating disorder. Alzheimer’s is a complex neurological dementia that is the cause of much human suffering and a great cost to society. The prevailing hypothesis about its cause involves APP (amyloid precursor protein), a protein that resides in the outer membrane of nerve cells and that, when improperly broken down, forms a harmful substance called beta-amyloid, which accumulates as plaques and kills brain cells. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease; the medicines in use can only mitigate the symptoms. In the hunt for a cure, scientists are following several avenues of attack, of which vaccination is currently the most popular. The study was carried out by Professor Bengt Winblad at Karolinska Institutet’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre and leading neurologists in the Swedish Brain Power network.

June 6, 2012, Karolinska Institutet