Medicine Can the blood wash stop dementia?

Scientists test blood-lotion therapy for dementia

The number of dementia patients is increasing dramatically and so far no treatment methods are available that can stop the course or even achieve a cure. However, physicians at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald are currently testing an approach in the so-called IMAD study that has stabilized memory in the patients treated so far - blood washing.

With a blood wash, the antibodies can be removed from the blood, which are directed against the body's own tissue and related to the disease in dementia. The procedure is currently being tested on patients at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald. In a press release, the scientists led by Prof. Marcus Dörr from the Department of Internal Medicine B in Greifswald have now informed about the first results of the IMAD study. Although a final assessment is only possible after the end of the study, the results so far are quite promising.

New treatment methods urgently sought

Few drugs are currently available for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's dementia and effective causal treatment is currently not possible, the experts explain. Intensive efforts to develop new drugs have also been unsuccessful in the past. However, effective treatment is urgently needed given the increasing number of people affected. For example, forecasts in this country of an increase in dementia patients from the current 1.6 million to about 3 million by 2050, should not be a breakthrough in dementia research, the scientists report.

Antibodies are removed from the blood

The Greifswald IMAD study is currently testing a novel therapeutic approach in which patients receive a blood wash that removes certain antibodies from the blood. This treatment is based on the scientific assumption that the antibodies play a crucial role in the regulation of the blood flow to the brain and thus for the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to the report of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald.

Stabilization of memory

According to the experts, the treatment "aims to improve the blood supply in the brain in order to stabilize the patient's memory performance." The removal of the antibodies takes place with a procedure similar to dialysis in kidney patients. Seven patients have so far been treated in the study with the new procedure. "In the majority of the participating patients, over a period of six to twelve months, a stabilization of memory performance was detected," the researchers report.

Further study participants wanted

Given the low number of patients, a final assessment of the new therapeutic approach is not possible and the study has now been extended to 2019, according to the University's announcement. Further study participants are therefore sought. On March 29, the scientists will provide information on the current status of the study at a public forum and inform interested parties about the terms of participation in the study. For example, only women and men between the ages of 55 and 85 from the Greifswald region with mild Alzheimer's dementia can be registered for the study. Further information about the conditions of participation can be found here. (Fp)