A revolutionary jab that could stop the onslaught of Alzheimer’s disease may be available within two years.
The vaccine has been proved to halt and even reverse the damage caused to the brain by the mind-robbing condition.
Although it would not be a cure, it is regarded as one of the biggest potential breakthroughs in years in the search for Alzheimer’s treatments.
It is one of only two vaccines for the condition to have reached the final stages of testing, known as phase three.
This means it has passed initial safety hurdles and been shown to be effective.
It is now in the final stages of clinical trials and is being tested on more than 10,000 patients around the world, including hundreds in the UK.
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affect more than 800,000 Britons, and the number is expected to double in a generation as the population ages.
Existing drugs can delay the progress of Alzheimer’s, but their failure to tackle the underlying cause in the brain means that their effect quickly wears off and the disease soon takes its devastating course.
In contrast, the bapineuzumab jab prevents or even reverses the build-up of amyloid, the toxic protein that clogs the brain in Alzheimer’s, destroying vital connections between cells. It is hoped this will dramatically slow the progress of the disease.
In one early test, it cut the number of amyloid plaques by a quarter.
The development of tests which can detect Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages would allow the jab to be given at the first possible opportunity.
This would enable it to save thousands from the most devastating effects of the incurable disease, which leaves sufferers unable to walk, talk and even swallow, making them totally dependent on others.
Although vaccines are traditionally thought of as preventing disease, bapineuzumab is designed as a treatment.
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