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A vaccine will be created against Alzheimer's disease
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Senile dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, according to some data, more than 47 million people suffer from this disorder in the world and the number of patients continues to increase every year. Today, this neurodegenerative disease is considered incurable and develops mainly in elderly people.
Recent studies have shown that Alzheimer's disease can be prevented and help patients with the early form of the disease. An international team from the United States and Australia has developed a drug that can protect against the development of senile dementia. According to the researchers, the vaccine is the first drug of its kind in the world that acts against tau proteins and beta-amyloid accumulations in the brain, which cause irreversible processes.
Tests of the new drug have shown that after the vaccine is administered, the immune system is activated and begins to produce antibodies that destroy certain proteins in the brain.
According to one of the researchers from the public University of South Australia, this vaccine is suitable for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease and its peculiarity is that it acts equally effectively against both tau proteins and beta-amyloids, the excess of which is the cause of the development of senile dementia.
Scientists have already tested the new drug on rodent cell cultures, and testing of the vaccine with humans is expected to begin in a couple of years. Despite the successful results of the first tests, it is impossible to say with 100% certainty that the vaccine will be effective and appear in clinical practice of doctors.
Research into senile dementia caused by various disorders has been conducted for many years, and some scientists have managed to achieve good results in this area. For example, it has been established that there are some signs indicating the onset of Alzheimer's disease. According to researchers, the first warning sign of the disease is a decrease in blood flow to the brain, while other studies have shown that an increase in the level of amyloid protein and its accumulation in the brain indicates the onset of irreversible processes.
The scientists published their new work in one of the well-known scientific publications, where they showed that with the progression of senile dementia, the brain is damaged by beta-amyloid deposits, cerebral circulation and glucose metabolism are disrupted, and in addition, atrophy of about 80 parts of the brain is observed.
Another team of researchers has developed a special program that helps identify senile dementia at the initial stages. With the help of the program, scientists can predict the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease.
According to the World Health Organization, every year around 8 million new cases of senile dementia caused by one pathology or another are diagnosed worldwide, with Alzheimer's disease accounting for up to 70% of all cases.
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