A new study has discovered a highly promising therapy for to treat patients with cognitive and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, the second most common type of dementia in people under the age of 60, resulting in the stabilization of what would otherwise be escalating behavioral issues and the slowing of disease-related brain shrinkage.
It is the second clinical trial to demonstrate that the medicine, sodium selenate, may decrease cognitive loss and neuronal damage, which are hallmarks of several dementias, especially Alzheimer’s Disease
Behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a devastating illness that can strike persons as early as 35 years old, as per ScienceDaily. It is characterized by behavioral and personality abnormalities, and it may be extremely disruptive and stressful for both patients and their families.
There are currently no therapies or cures for bvFTD, and the average survival time is 5-7 years after diagnosis. The Phase 1 trial, which was conducted in collaboration with the Royal Melbourne Hospital to treat for being the only one in Australia targeting non-genetic bvFTD and one of only a few worldwide, demonstrated that the drug, sodium selenate, is safe and well-tolerated in patients with bvFTD over a 12-month period.
Furthermore, the proportion of patients who received sodium selenate saw no change in cognitive or behavioral symptoms and experienced lower rates of brain shrinkage over the study period. The trial’s findings, led by Dr. Lucy Vivash of Monash University’s Department of Neuroscience, were recently published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions.
The destruction of the neural connections is characterized by the accumulation of a protein called tau in nearly half of the cases with bvFTD. As a mechanism to counteract the neurodegeneration caused by tau buildup, this protein is a prominent focus for study in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
Source: This news is originally published by natureworldnews