“I think Alzheimer’s tends to happen in the home, or in a home, and it involves a loved one and a caregiver and it’s fairly quiet,” says fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. “Whereas, and I say this with a certain amount of care, there’s a kind of heroic glamour about the battle against cancer. With Alzheimer’s it’s a lot of skirmishing.” After receiving an Alzheimers diagnosis, Pratchett donated $1 million to Alzheimers research.

Some of the newest Alzheimers research has focused on brain cell connectors. A new study done by Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine found a connection between signs of Alzheimers and a brain protein called kalirin-7. “We already knew that kalirin controlled the synapses,” lab researcher Peter Penzes explains. “But now we understand how it works and that it could be responsible for memory storage. Kalirin acts like a volume dial, making the synapses stronger. This suggests that a drug that would stimulate kalirin could improve memory or delay the progression of memory loss.” The next step in this Alzheimers brain research is, of course, human clinical trials.

Australian scientists feel they have made a breakthrough in Alzheimers research. A clinical trial showed that a new medication reduces levels of the “amyloid” brain protein, which behaves strangely in Alzheimers patients - dividing irregularly and leaving sticky toxic clumps that kill neurons. The “PBT2″ Alzheimers drug stops beta amyloid from combining with other materials to form plaques. “We found we were able to remove the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease in animal models,” said Professor Ashley Bush, of the University of Melbourne.

“In human patients, the results from the 12 week trial were remarkable. We can only imagine that with a longer trial, the effect will be even stronger.” If successful, then the drug could be available as early as 2011.

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