What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks.
There are at least 50 million Alzheimer’s patients worldwide. Every year, there are nearly 10 million new cases. The thing about diseases like Alzheimer’s or dementia is that they hurt others just as much (or even more) as the person who is diagnosed.
In most people with the disease—those with the late-onset type—symptoms first appear in their mid-60s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s occurs between a person’s 30s and mid-60s and is very rare.
Alzheimer’s disease is currently ranked as the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but recent estimates indicate that the disorder may rank third, just behind heart disease and cancer, as a cause of death for older people.
Treatment:
Alzheimer’s disease is complex, and it is unlikely that any one drug or other intervention can successfully treat it. Current approaches focus on helping people maintain mental function, manage behavioral symptoms, and slow down certain problems, such as memory loss. Researchers hope to develop therapies targeting specific genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms so that the actual underlying cause of the disease can be stopped or prevented.
New Hope for Alzheimer’s disease:
A home-grown drug: GV-971 in China for Alzheimer’s, which could treat the ailment in 17 years was approved to be marketed by China’s National Medical Products Administration (CNMPA).
This drug is the only Alzheimer’s medicine out of more than 320 developed by pharmaceutical companies around the globe to survive clinical trials, despite the investment of hundreds of billions of US dollars over the past two decades.
Extracted from brown algae, the orally taken drug is the world’s first multi-targeting and carbohydrate-based drug for Alzheimer’s which can treat mild to moderate forms of the disease and improve cognition.
The drug functions mainly by rebalancing gut microbiota, reducing neuro-inflammation and reducing cognitive impairment.
The drug provides new choices to patients with Alzheimer’s and continued research will be conducted on its long-term effects and safety.
Currently the product is only available in domestic market and international clinical trials are ongoing and may finish in 2024, paving the way for its approval overseas.
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