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A New Approach to Treating Alzheimer's Disease
Author(s) -
Blass John P.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1427.022
Subject(s) - disease , abnormality , cognition , medicine , cognitive impairment , alzheimer's disease , clinical trial , intensive care medicine , metabolic rate , psychology , neuroscience , psychiatry
It is rational to try to normalize changes that correlate with the severity of the clinical disabilities in Alzheimer's disease (AD) rather than focusing on other of the many abnormalities in end‐stage AD brain that relate only theoretically to the clinical manifestations. The neurobiological measure that correlates most closely to the degree of cognitive deterioration is reduction in cerebral metabolic rate. An attempt to treat this abnormality in AD patients is described; it is based, in part, on metabolic control theory. Encouraging results of a preliminary double‐blind clinical trial do not allow confident conclusions but do support the need for more intensive examination of this approach to AD treatment.