Chat Transcript: Update from Alzheimer's Congress
July 12 -- In Washington, D.C. this week, representatives from three major Alzheimer's conferences are gathering to share information in the first World Alzheimer’s Congress. Almost 5,000 researchers, doctors and caregivers are expected to attend.
Among the topics covered at the conference are the results of safety trials for a possible vaccine and the latest research about the degenerative disease.
Joining us today in an online chat was William Thies, Ph.D., vice president of Medical and Scientific Affairs for the Alzheimer's Association.
Moderator at 9:16am ET
You can learn more about the Alzheimer's vaccine by clicking here now.
Moderator at 11:55am ET
Welcome William Thies.
Moderator at 11:56am ET
Could you please talk about the promise and pitfalls associated with the newly announced Alzheimer's vaccine?
William Thies at 11:58am ET
The vaccine that has received a lot of news coverage in the last couple of days is the result of a single observation that's now about one year old. That observation was that in a highly engineered mouse that had some of the biochemistry of Alzheimer's disease, immunizing that mouse with a purified protein could decrease some of the altered biochemistry. Since that initial observation, there have been a number of studies in other animals, and we are now in the very earliest stages of clinical trial in humans.
To date, the clinical trials in humans have been aimed at establishing the safety of this intervention, and we anticipate trials for the effectiveness of this intervention starting within the next eight to ten months. We are cautiously optimistic about this development, but we recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done before this becomes a practical, available clinical intervention.
Moderator at 11:59am ET
Penny Folden asks:I heard today that people who are genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's disease should avoid high-fat diets. Could you please explain. Thank you.
William Thies at 12:01pm ET
The work that was reported today is based on an observation of a relatively large number of patients, where they were asked how much fat they ate when they were in their 20s through their 40s. The results said that people who had reported a higher-fat diet in their early life had higher incidence of Alzheimer's disease at this time.
While this kind of study does not prove causation, it is the kind of observation that ought to lead us to further investigation. It is premature at this point to make a broad public health statement about preventing Alzheimer's disease by lowering the fat in one's diet. There are, however, a variety of other health reasons that suggest that a low-fat diet can be beneficial.
Moderator at 12:03pm ET
Susan Holtry asks:My mother developed Alzheimer's at age 60. Should and can I be tested? Should I be taking precautions now (e.g., Gingko, Advil, vitamin E)?
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