Dangerous Alzheimer’s vaccine a step closer to reality

Alzheimer’s vaccine idea sounds good until you know its risky history

They’re saying it could be “one of the most important developments in recent medical history.”

That’s if it doesn’t kill you first.

A group of Australian and U.S. researchers are working on what looks like the most frightening thing to come down the Big Pharma pike in a long, long time.

It’s a vaccine for Alzheimer’s, one that people could be offered in their 50s — or even younger when they’re perfectly healthy — to ward off this devastating disease.

It’s a plan these researchers say could become a reality very quickly.

But what they don’t want you to know is that attempts at this type of shot have been tried before.

And the results were disastrous.

The ‘cure’ that isn’t

Researchers must think they’ve found the pot of gold at the end of the drug rainbow.

A vaccine that can not only help those with Alzheimer’s disease, but one to prevent it as well.

Certainly this is something we would all love to see, as Alzheimer’s is probably the disease we all fear the most.

But this vaccine that’s speeding our way is starting to look more like a train wreck than a cure.

You see, attempting to use our immune system (as this vaccine would) to fight Alzheimer’s-causing brain plaques was tried before, 14 years ago by drugmaker Elan.

And the company had to bring the trial to a screeching halt after 15 of the patients developed swelling of their central nervous system — a condition that can stop blood flow in different parts of the body.

It can even be fatal.

And that wasn’t just a one-time problem or mistake in the trial, either.

Professor Christian Holscher with Lancaster University says that this entire approach of trying to make a vaccine to stop brain plaques “is very dangerous.” It can actually “induce auto-immune responses which are toxic,” he said.

And even pharma giant Eli Lilly has failed in its attempt produce a drug that can use our antibodies to fight the disease. Professor Paul Morgan at Cardiff University calls this approach as one having a “long and tortuous history.”

But believe me, that won’t stop this research, or its funding, for one minute.

In fact, the head of this experiment is even attempting to explain the theory of his vaccine to the layman by saying it’s like “tow trucks” that come to your driveway and hook up with a broken-down car (the brain proteins) and “pull it out.”

I know, you can’t make this stuff up.

But despite all the money, other failed studies and patients whose high hopes have been crushed, there have been some very promising developments in Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment.

They just don’t involve risky drugs or vaccines.

A couple of years ago I told you about two doctors in the field of neurology who analyzed all the research done over the past 12 years about diet and Alzheimer’s.

And what they found was nothing short of amazing.

For example:

B vitamins — such as folic acid, B6 and B12 — improved the mental abilities for those in the early stages of dementia.
The traditional “Mediterranean diet,” one consisting of lots of fresh fruits, veggies, and fish (along with other healthy fats), can significantly help those with Alzheimer’s and can lower your risk of developing the disease in the first place.
Omega-3 fatty acids, like the kind you’ll find in a daily fish oil supplement, can slow down the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

This is the research that everyone should be getting all excited about — not some risky shot that will likely do more harm than good.

But, of course, all these foods and vitamins are at our disposal right now.

And no doctor’s visit or Rx is required!

Sources:
“Why the latest Alzheimer’s ‘cure’ might be too good to be true” Kashmira Gander, July 19, 2016, Independent, independent.co.uk