Alzheimer’s jab: New vaccine could cure 50% of cases

Alzheimer’s jab: New vaccine could cure 50% of cases

A vaccine which could cut the number of Alzheimer’s cases in half has passed its first human trials.

The jab could delay the onset of what is the most common form of dementia by five years and be the first step to a cure.

Scientists in Sweden tested the vaccine called CAD106 on patients aged 50 to 80 over a three-year period.

In three out of four cases it increased the levels of antibodies in their blood, suggesting the vaccine had boosted their immune system.

And those taking part had no serious side-effects.

Authors of the study in the journal Lancet Neurology called it a “promising option in the treatment of people suffering from mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease”.

Commenting on the research, Thomas Wisniewski, of the New York School of Medicine, said: “Development of immunotherapy that can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by five years would reduce the prevalence of the disease by half.”

Alzheimer’s attacks nerves, brain cells and neurotransmitters which carry messages to and from the brain.

Currently more than 650,000 suffer from the disease in Britain alone.

Dr Simon Ridley, of Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “This trial is an important first step.

"Larger scale trials of CAD106 will determine whether it can help people’s memory and thinking skills.

“It’s likely any new treatment will be most effective when given in the early stages of the disease.“