Monthly Archives: November 2012

London, November 26 (ANI): A study on mice has suggested that drugs, which are used to calm inflammation in psoriasis may also help to combat the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

Tests showed the short-term memory of the animals improved when given similar drugs and the build-up of proteins thought to destroy brain cells was also reduced, the BBC reported.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disorder caused when the immune system attacks healthy skin cells, stimulating the production of new skin.

The immune system, which controls levels of inflammation, has been implicated in both Alzheimer's disease and psoriasis.

However, the exact cause of the gradual destruction of the tissues of the brain during Alzheimer's disease is still unknown.

Researchers at the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, and the Charite university hospital, Germany, targeted two components of the immune system known to boost inflammation in mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer's.

Injecting an antibody to attack the two chemicals, twice a week once the mice were one month old, led to a 31 percent reduction in beta-amyloid plaques, which are thought to damage the brain.

Similar tests on older mice, which had already developed symptoms, showed "the significant deficit in short-term memory" was reduced "substantially", the study published in the journal Nature Medicine revealed.

Drugs that target the same system have already been tested on people with psoriasis.

"Based on the safety data in patients, clinical studies could now be implemented without delay. Now, the goal is to bring the new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer patients quickly," the BBC quoted the researchers as saying.

Here is the original post:
Psoriasis drugs may help 'slow dementia'

25 November 2012 Last updated at 18:05 ET

Drugs used to calm inflammation in psoriasis may also help to combat the effects of Alzheimer's disease, a study on mice suggests.

Tests showed the short-term memory of the animals improved when given similar drugs, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The build-up of proteins thought to destroy brain cells was also reduced.

Alzheimer's Research UK said brain inflammation was looking like a "key player" in the disease.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disorder caused when the immune system attacks healthy skin cells, stimulating the production of new skin.

The immune system, which controls levels of inflammation, has been implicated in both Alzheimer's disease and psoriasis.

However, the exact cause of the gradual destruction of the tissues of the brain during Alzheimer's disease is still unknown.

There is increasing evidence that inflammation is a key player in Alzheimer's and it is an exciting area for researchers working to defeat this devastating disease

Researchers at the University of Zurich, in Switzerland, and the Charite university hospital, Germany, targeted two components of the immune system known to boost inflammation in mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer's.

See the article here:
Psoriasis drug 'slows dementia'

HONG KONG (Reuters) - When Gary Lai first came down with the skin disease psoriasis, he got so tired of the stigma he faced in the outside world that he would lock himself away in his apartment whenever he didn't have to be at work.

"When you have to apply ointment all over your body, it is impractical. It also has a smell and when you go to work, your colleagues will start asking questions," said Lai, who was 24 when he was diagnosed.

Now Lai, 41, and other Hong Kong residents suffering from psoriasis - a lifelong autoimmune disease that covers the skin in red, scaly plaques - have joined hands to press the government to help subsidize their high treatment costs.

Affecting up to two percent of the population in Asia, or 125 million people worldwide, this disfiguring disease can take a higher physical and mental toll on patients than cancer and heart disease, past surveys have found.

"During all that time, I experienced great stress and prejudice. In the subway, people around me will stare at me and they think I may infect them," said Lai, a data analyst. "I can tell from their eyes even if they don't say anything."

In psoriasis patients, skin cells grow too fast and rapidly pile up, forming red and inflamed scales or plaques on the skin. While cell reproduction in normal skin takes 28 days, that process in psoriasis patients takes only four days.

The exact cause of psoriasis remains unknown although experts believe it is linked to the immune system where a class of fighter cells attack the body's own healthy skin cells by mistake. They cite a combination of risk factors, including genetic predisposition and environmental factors.

Dermatologist Yeung Chi-keung said first-line treatments such as creams, exposure to ultraviolet light and oral drugs tend not to work for about 10 percent of patients, who will then require second-line drugs, which are injected.

These injectable drugs now cost an average of HK$10,000 (US$1,282) a month and getting on Hong Kong's general list will mean patients need only pay a nominal administrative fee of $10.

"In the last month, we (dermatologists in Hong Kong) proposed to the government to consider subsidizing these drugs," said Yeung, who is honorary clinical associate professor of dermatology at the University of Hong Kong's department of medicine.

Link:
Psoriasis patients look to Hong Kong government for help - and hope