Two decades of Alzheimer’s research was based on deliberate fraud by 2 scientists that has cost billions of dollars and millions of lives

[ElliotGreen]

"[I]t looks like the original paper that established the amyloid plaque model as the foundation of Alzheimer’s research over the last 16 years might not just be wrong, but a deliberate fraud."

wallstreetpro.com/2022/07/2...

[MBAnderson]

"...$56,000-a-dose...."

"...it’s expected to drive up the price of Medicare for everyone in America, even those who never need this drug."

"Last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) narrowly approved the use of Aduhelm, a new drug from Biogen that the company has priced so highly that it’s expected to drive up the price of Medicare for everyone in America, even those who never need this drug. Aduhelm was the first drug to be approved that fights the accumulation of those “amyloid plaques” in the brain. What makes the approval of the $56,000-a-dose drug so controversial is that while it does decrease plaques, it doesn’t actually slow Alzheimer’s. In fact, clinical trials were suspended in 2019 after the treatment showed “no clinical benefits.” (Which did not keep Biogen from seeking the drug’s approval or pricing it astronomically.)"

Just as bad is the 2 tiers of justice, i.e., an average person would be in jail for such a massive fraud. FDA is to blame.

[jimcaster]

I can't help but think it's as futile to attack alpha synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease as it is to attack beta amyloid in Alzheimer’s Disease.

[House2 in reply to jimcaster]

I'm inclined to agree, it may be like cleaning up the ashes after the house burns down.

[kaypeeoh in reply to jimcaster]

In both cases the lesions are found in the brain after death. So the assumption is made that there's a connection. Amyloid and alpha synuclein could be chemicals produced by the brain and ultimately phagocytized by the brain's healing cells. That's what I'm guessing anyway.

I was dx'd with MS and took tysabri IV infusions for two years. Tysabri is a manufactured antibody that breaks down affected macrophages before it gets into the brain and damages myelin.

AHT is an old treatment. It's AutoHemoTherapy. Blood is taken from a vein then immediately injected into muscle. The injected blood stimulates the bone marrow to increase macrophages in the blood. Macrophages are the body's police force; They circulate in the blood looking for abnormal tissues. Anything foreign is attacked (phagocytized) and removed from circulation. It works against bacterial, viral and fungal infection and also toxins.

MS and PD are thought to be autoimmune diseases; The body making antibodies to normal tissues. Those antibodies trigger macrophages to seek-and-destroy foreign cells.

In my veterinary practice I sometimes encountered dogs with severe anemia. Blood tests showed positive Coumbs tests. The body's macrophages were attacking its own RBCs. I'd look at blood under a microscope and see RBCs with pieces missing as if they'd been chewed on by Pacman. The condition could be manages with steroids. In some cases could be cured by removing the spleen. Macrophages live in the spleen; Normal RBCs float through the spleen several times a day. The abnormal macrophages would attack normal RBCs and destroy them resulting in severe anemia.

Tysabri was designed to attack abnormal white blood cells before they could cross the BBB and attack myelin, the immune cells coverings. I'm hoping MS can be treated the same way. I'd read of using antibodies to treat PD but haven't heard how effective this is.

No matter. Once a month I draw 12cc of blood from my antecubital (elbow) vein and immediately inject 6cc into each thigh muscle. I haven't told the neuro about this because I'm sure she'll not agree with it.

[kaypeeoh in reply to kaypeeoh]

youtube.com/watch?v=La5XdvZ...(Not working as expected?)

[kaypeeoh in reply to kaypeeoh]

The video shows a 'how to' for anyone interested in doing AHT themselves.

[Grumpy77]

"Other researchers, including a 2008 paper from Harvard, have noted that Aβ*56 is unstable and there seems to be no sign of this substance in human tissues, making its targeting literally worse than useless."

This seems to be a classic case of 'ponzi faith'... (This also happened when the security agencies of many countries came to the conclusion that Saddam Hussein had stock piles of WMD). This happens when the origin of a conclusion based on a pack lies, fraud or manipulation is a big and trusted name with a renowned reputation. So the next big name pretends to independently do their own research but don't (due to laziness or something) instead make their results conform to the original big name fraud. And the next series of pretentiously independent outcomes are merely based on previous results/outcomes/conclusions which themselves were mostly not original

Don't get me wrong, i know scientists cite and reference previous research work without having to reinvent the wheel, but in every paper they use, they have to verify data and procedure before continuing

How far and deeply this ponzi faith has infiltrated into medical pharmacology R & D I don't know, but my guess is its gone very deep

[kaypeeoh in reply to Grumpy77]

In a perfect world a new study shows a positive result. Then follow-up studies confirm it. Then eventually it's known to the world and appears in text books. But in the imperfect world we live in there is "Publish or Perish". New studies don't disappear just because they're wrong. The authors might argue that follow-up studies disproving the original study are important because they direct readers into new directions of study.

I was involved in such a situation when I was in college. I took a class in organic chemistry. The instructor had me recreate the experiment that led to a guy's master's degree. He opined that LPS, the cell walls of E. coli, was the toxic agent causing disease and death. LPS is LipoPolySacharide. I carefully, faithfully grew E. coli then extracted purified LPS and injected it into lab mice. The experiment was supposed to show that LPS killed the mice. But that never happened. Then I did the experiment again just as carefully and again was not able to kill lab mice. In the end it cost me a letter-grade and kept me from graduating 'cum laude'. The teacher felt I must not have done the protocol correctly, As an undergrad my opinion didn't carry any weight compared with the guy with a master's degree.

Later when I was in vet medical school I learned the toxic agent in LPS is the lipid fraction, not the polysaccaride. I went over my notes and saw that the protocol for collecting LP had included an alcohol wash. Alcohol destroys lipid. So I was never injecting lipid, instead just polysaccaride. SO the guy falsified his own study results to get his MS degree and it ended up in the literature.

Bottom line is don't rely on one study to make serious decisions. Wait until there are several other studies all confirming the original one; Less chance of being duped that way.

[Grumpy77 in reply to kaypeeoh]

Did you contact your former graduate school that the guy falsified his results or you just let it go?

I think research procedures and protocols need to improved

[kaypeeoh in reply to Grumpy77]

No, this happened 40 years ago. In college my goal was to make it to vet medical school. Once I was accepted it was no longer of concern to me. Even though, 40 years later it still rankles.

[Wonky-Bride]

How very depressing (and shameful).

[MBAnderson]

6,000,000 have Alzheimer's.

They ought to financially audit every one at the FDA who voted to approve this drug.

The drug company could pay them $10M each and it would never notice it.