Some encouraging Alzheimer’s news from Sweden: a vaccine called
CAD106 appears to be safe and ramps up the body’s immune system
against a protein likely involved in Alzheimer’s. The hope is
that this vaccine will slow the progression of Alzheimer’s
disease, and possibly even stop it. The vaccine is designed to
activate the body’s immune system against beta amyloid, a
protein fragment that forms deposits called amyloid plaques
between nerve cells in the brain. While it’s unclear if beta
amyloid plaques cause Alzheimer’s or are a result of it,
scientists do know that the plaques are an important biomarker
of the disease. Some researchers believe that beta amyloid
plaques interfere with communication between nerve cells or
somehow inhibit processes needed to keep brain cells alive.
“Twenty-five years ago,” says Dr. Anthony L. Komaroff, professor
of medicine at Harvard Medical School, “we knew very little
about what caused Alzheimer’s disease and therefore how it might
be prevented and treated. A lot of people we