A New Hope: For People with Alzheimer’s Disease

What is Alzheimer's Disease?
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is an Irreversible, Progressive Brain Disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common cause of Dementia among older adults. Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning (thinking, remembering, and reasoning) and behavioral abilities to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living.

The cause(s) of Alzheimer’s Disease are poorly understood. In people with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease, a genetic mutation may be the cause. Late-onset Alzheimer’s Disease arises from a complex series of brain changes that occur over decades. The causes probably include a combination of Genetic, Environmental and Lifestyle Factors. The importance of any one of these factors in increasing or decreasing the risks of developing Alzheimer’s Disease may differ from person to person.

Pathological changes in the brain are thought to begin a decade or more before memory and other cognitive problems appear in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients. During this pre-symptom stage, people seem to be symptom-free, but toxic changes are taking place in the brain. Abnormal deposits of Proteins form Amyloid Plaques and Tau Tangles throughout the brain. Once-healthy Neurons stop functioning, lose connections with other Neurons and die.

Although nearly one in every three people will eventually be afflicted and it’s the third leading cause of death of older adults in the U.S. (surpassed only by Heart Disease and Cancer in Non-Pandemic years), there may be effective treatments on the horizon.

One contender is about to start a Phase I Clinical Trial. It’s a Novel Drug known as NVG-291 and it’s designed to repair Damaged Nerves. Originally developed by NervGen Pharma Corp. (TSX-V: NGEN) (OTCQX: NGENF) to treat Spinal Cord Injuries, it soon became apparent that the drug may be healing Nerve Damage at a biologically fundamental level. That suggests it can also help people who have Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Disease.

According to NervGen President & CEO Paul Brennan, NVG-291 is a truly unique and logical approach to treating Alzheimer’s Disease Patients. “What differentiates NVG-291 from other drugs in development is that it leverages multiple mechanisms for repairing Nerve Damage,” he explains, “while most others focus on a single approach. Alzheimer’s Disease is a complex condition and likely caused by multiple factors. We believe that a systems approach to treating the Disease is an important distinction.”

NVG-291 is designed to achieve this by liberating the body’s own repair mechanisms to accelerate Nerve Repair. When Nerve Damage occurs, either as a result of an injury or disease, molecules called Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan, or CSPG accumulate and inhibit the body’s ability to repair itself. NervGen’s Technology is designed to counteract this inhibition and result in the initiation of multiple repair mechanisms, including Nerve Regeneration and Remyelination - the repair of the protective coating of the Nerves. It should also improve plasticity, which is where surviving Nerves take on additional functions.

There are two additional mechanisms that are seen to be very important in treating Alzheimer’s Disease. Data in animal studies show that inflammation in the Immune Cells of the Brain is reduced and autophagy, a cellular cleaning mechanism necessary for healthy Neurons, is promoted. Researchers believe the same Nerve-Rejuvenating Biotechnology can be adapted to remedy this mind-desecrating disease.

Currently approved Alzheimer’s Disease Drugs merely address symptoms, whereas NVG-291 should act at a more fundamental level to let normal repair mechanisms kick in to create a favorable environment for Nerves to grow and form entirely new Nerve Connections, according to Brennan.

The ability to bring to bear numerous mechanisms of repair, including two that are increasingly viewed as critical to addressing Alzheimer’s Disease, represents an unprecedented Medical Breakthrough.

For further facts on the Clinical Trials and NervGen, visit: www.nervgen.com