{"id":99003,"date":"2016-12-02T11:07:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T16:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/?p=99003"},"modified":"2016-12-02T06:08:14","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T11:08:14","slug":"alzheimers-disease-does-thc-hold-the-key-to-a-cure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2016\/12\/alzheimers-disease-does-thc-hold-the-key-to-a-cure\/","title":{"rendered":"Alzheimer\u2019s Disease: Does THC Hold the Key to a Cure?"},"content":{"rendered":"
December 2, 2016<\/div>
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By WallStreetDaily.com<\/u><\/a> \"Alzheimer\u2019s<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease basically eats your mind, subjecting the patient to a living death and loved ones to the most agonizing form of witness. Today, we bring you a \u201cgood news\/bad news\u201d update on the state of Alzheimer\u2019s research.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

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The burden of Alzheimer\u2019s is well-known.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s irreversible and progressive. It destroys memory, language, thought, and reasoning skills.<\/p>\n

Apart from cognitive damage, it also alters personality and makes its sufferers irritable, anxious, and\/or depressed.<\/p>\n

In late stages, it disturbs sleep. It causes agitation, including physical and verbal outbursts, as well as general emotional distress and restlessness via pacing, shredding paper or tissues, and yelling.<\/p>

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It creates delusions (\u201cfirmly held beliefs in things that are not real\u201d) and\/or hallucinations (\u201cseeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there\u201d).<\/p>\n

According to the National Institute on Aging, it\u2019s the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, though recent studies suggest the number of deaths from the disease may be underreported.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely that Alzheimer\u2019s ranks third, behind only heart disease and cancer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the human impact, experienced by those afflicted with the disease, along with their families and friends.<\/p>\n

The financial cost is staggering, too.<\/p>\n

According to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, Alzheimer\u2019s \u201cis the most expensive disease in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2016,\u201d the Association estimates that \u201cthe direct costs to American society of caring for those with Alzheimer\u2019s and other dementias will total an estimated $236 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n

It costs an average of about $287,000 (2010 dollars) per year to care for a person with Alzheimer\u2019s during the last five years of life. It costs $175,000 for a person with heart disease and $173,000 for a person with cancer.<\/p>\n

There is no prevention. There is no cure.<\/p>\n

There is no treatment, even.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the failure of Eli Lilly and Co.\u2019s<\/strong> (LLY) solanezumab immunotherapy in a high-profile, highly anticipated Phase III clinical trial made so many headlines last month.<\/p>\n

As BioSpace.com\u2019s Mark Terry explains: \u201cThe drug candidate didn\u2019t show significant improvement versus placebo in mid-stage trials\u2026 Solanezumab didn\u2019t show a statistical slowing in cognitive decline compared to the placebo arm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eli Lilly\u2019s share price fell from $75.99 at the close on November 22 to $64.34 at the open on November 23. Right now, it\u2019s at $65.97.<\/p>\n

This is actually par for the Alzheimer\u2019s research course: Data compiled by the Cleveland Clinic indicate that the failure rate for Alzheimer\u2019s therapeutics was 99.6% from 2002\u20132012.<\/p>\n

Eli Lilly, among other Big Pharma names, including AstraZeneca Plc<\/strong> (AZN) and Merck & Co. Inc.<\/strong> (MRK), is focused on the prevailing beta-amyloid hypothesis, which traces the onset and progression of Alzheimer\u2019s to \u201cflaws in the process governing production, accumulation or disposal of beta-amyloid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beta-amyloid, or A\u03b2, is a fragment of a larger protein, \u201camyloid precursor protein.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation:<\/p>\n

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It accumulates by stages into microscopic amyloid plaques that are considered a hallmark of a brain affected by Alzheimer\u2019s. The pieces first form small clusters called oligomers, then chains of clusters called fibrils, then \u2018mats\u2019 of fibrils called beta-sheets. The final stage is plaques, which contain clumps of beta-sheets and other substances.<\/p>\n

According to the amyloid hypotheses, these stages of beta-amyloid aggregation disrupt cell-to-cell communication and activate immune cells. These immune cells trigger inflammation. Ultimately, the brain cells are destroyed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Merck\u2019s candidate in the amyloid-lowering race, verubecestat, is now well into Phase III clinical trials after preclinical and Phase I trials showed it \u201cput the brakes on A\u03b2 production and reduced the amyloidogenic peptide by more than 90% in the brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood of animal models.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Alzforum notes: \u201cMore meaningfully, it did so, too, in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of healthy young to middle-aged people, and in people with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. It did so without causing harmful side effects in people \u2014 at least in these short trials.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are other, newer fronts in this long struggle against Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Axovant Sciences Ltd.<\/strong> (AXON), a $1.3 billion company, is currently recruiting patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer\u2019s for its Phase III trial of intepirdine, a 5-HT6 receptor antagonist first developed by GlaxoSmithKline Plc<\/strong> (GSK).<\/p>\n

Intepirdine blocks the 5-HT6 receptor and thereby raises levels of acetylcholine, a brain chemical that boosts cognition and helps in the performance of daily activities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s intended to be used along with a cholinesterase inhibitor such as donepezil. Intepirdine stimulates release of acetylcholine, while donepezil prevents the breakdown of acetylcholine after it\u2019s released.<\/p>\n

Progress on treatment will, obviously, benefit the more than 5 million Americans already living with Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Right now, it\u2019s estimated that every 66 seconds, someone in the United States develops the disease. By 2050, someone in the United States will develop the disease every 33 seconds.<\/p>\n

So prevention, detection, and cure are obvious priorities.<\/p>\n

In the October 13 Wall Street Daily<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, we discussed research conducted at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that suggests \u201ca road map for not just treatment of Alzheimer\u2019s, but for early detection and prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s based on the active ingredient in marijuana:<\/p>\n

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Cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) stimulate the removal of intraneuronal A\u03b2, block the inflammatory response, and are protective. Altogether, these data show that there is a complex and likely autocatalytic inflammatory response within nerve cells caused by the accumulation of intracellular A\u03b2, and that this early form of proteotoxicity can be blocked by the activation of cannabinoid receptors.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As we noted:<\/p>\n

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The Salk Institute team found that \u201cthe production of amyloid-\u03b2 initiates an inflammatory response that ultimately leads to neuronal death.\u201d<\/p>\n

But they also learned that the brain naturally produces endocannabinoids, which help clear amyloid-beta from neurons.<\/p>\n

And \u2014 spark it up! \u2014 they discovered that introducing chemical compounds like THC \u201creduced inflammation and prevented cell death.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The bottom line is that THC protected the cell and helped it heal itself.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, New Scientist<\/em> recently detailed research at the University of New South Wales in Australia focused on a protein called tau.<\/p>\n

\u201cTau tangles\u201d are a well-known phenomenon in Alzheimer\u2019s patients.<\/p>\n

Recent laboratory results show that the enzyme p38\u03b3 kinase \u201chelps keep tau in a healthy, tangle-free state, preventing the onset of memory loss and other symptoms in mice that have been bred to develop a range of Alzheimer\u2019s-like pathologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is all about prevention \u2014 getting in front of beta-amyloid plaque.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got treatments now that decrease beta-amyloid levels, but they don\u2019t have much efficacy,\u201d Ralph Martins of Edith Cowan University in Western Australia tells New Scientist.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnimal work is increasingly showing that beta-amyloid toxicity is mediated through tau, so it\u2019s an attractive target.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Get Smart<\/h2>\n

Shane Parrish of the essential Farnam Street has a fresh look at an old subject \u2014 risk:<\/p>\n

The best colloquial definition of risk may be the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cRisk means more things can happen than will happen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We found it through the inimitable Howard Marks<\/strong><\/a>, but it\u2019s a quote from Elroy Dimson of the London Business School. Doesn\u2019t that capture it pretty well?<\/p>\n

Another way to state it is: If there were only one<\/em> thing that could happen, how much risk would there be, except in an extremely banal sense? You\u2019d know the exact probability distribution of the future. If I told you there was a 100% probability that you\u2019d get hit by a car today if you walked down the street, you simply wouldn\u2019t do it. You wouldn\u2019t call walking down the street a \u201crisky gamble,\u201d right? There\u2019s no gamble at all.<\/p>\n

But the truth is that in practical reality, there aren\u2019t many 100% situations to bank on. Way more things can happen than will happen<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> That introduces great uncertainty into the future, no matter what type of future you\u2019re looking at: an investment, your career, your relationships, anything.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2014 much more \u2014 here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Smart Investing,<\/p>\n

David Dittman
\nEditorial Director, Wall Street Daily<\/i><\/p>\n

The post Alzheimer\u2019s Disease: Does THC Hold the Key to a Cure?<\/a> appeared first on Wall Street Daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By WallStreetDaily.com Alzheimer\u2019s disease basically eats your mind, subjecting the patient to a living death and loved ones to the most agonizing form of witness. Today, we bring you a \u201cgood news\/bad news\u201d update on the state of Alzheimer\u2019s research. The burden of Alzheimer\u2019s is well-known. It\u2019s irreversible and progressive. It destroys memory, language, thought, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99007,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99003\/revisions\/99007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}