Scientists with the Elan pharmaceutical company in the United States have developed an experimental vaccine which they say could both treat and prevent Alzheimer's Disease. Their research, published in the scientific journal, Nature, has been welcomed by the Alzheimer's Society of Ireland. Human trials of the new vaccine could begin later this year.
Alzheimer's Diseases affects 33,000 in Ireland country alone; it destroys the nerve cells in the brain causing dementia. The disease in characterised by a build up of plaque deposits on the brain – similar to cholestrol on the arteries. The Elan scientists treated a genetically engineered mouse with a vaccine they have called AN 1792. They found that the vaccine reduced the existing deposits of plaque and also prevented further plaque deposits developing.
