There is a lot of buzz right now about rember. People want to know more about rember, how it works, and when it might become available.
"New research findings point to a new treatment that appears to slow the progress of Alzheimer's by 81% over a year. The product - remberTM - is the first drug to act to arrest the progression of Alzheimer's disease by targeting the tangles which are highly correlated with the disease."
What is rember and how is it supposed to work?
rember is a new version of an existing chemical substance, but modified especially to be used as a drug for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's. The chemical, called MTC, has been used in the past to treat urinary tract infections and other conditions.
TauRx Therapeutics Ltd have claimed that rember acts by 'disrupting and dissolving' the abnormal build-up of Tau protein in brain cells, thus breaking down (and possibly preventing) tangles.
How is rember different from existing drugs for Alzheimer's disease?
Existing drugs for Alzheimer's disease, such as Aricept, work to lessen the symptoms of the illness. These drugs prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, a chemical which carries messages between brain cells. This means that there is more acetylcholine available to transmit messages. This may temporarily improve or stabilise the symptoms of the disease. However, these drugs do nothing to stop the death of the nerve cells in the long run, so they will not bring a permanent cure.
It is claimed that rember could prevent the death of nerve cells.
Is rember a cure for Alzheimer's Disease?
While very promising results have been given following the Phase 2 trial of rember, it is important to consider the following details:
* these results are from a trial of 321 people, from Aberdeen, Birmingham and Singapore, over a period of less than 2 years;
* a Phase 3 trial, with far more particpants and on a global scale, must now take place and its results will ultimately determine the success of the treatment;
* the findings of the Phase 2 trial are yet to be published in an academic journal, which would allow other scientists to replicate the testing in order to see if the same results occured;
* potential side-effects (especially after long-term use) and varying individual reponses to the treatment could take many more years, perhaps decades, to determine.
Results so far are promising, but we must wait until the end of the testing phase (which could take between 3-4 years) before we truly know how effective rember is.
Will rember work for other types of dementia?
As far as we are aware, rember has only been designed for, and tested on, Alzheimer's disease. However, TauRx says that they hope rember may also help in Parkinson's disease, as similar protein fibres similar to tau protein (synuclein fibres) are found in the brain cells of people with Parkinson's disease. They are planning a separate trial to see if it is effective.
