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The procedure in West Virginia involved the use of ultrasound waves focused through a specialized helmet with more than 1,000 probes targeting a precise spot in the brain, coupled with microscopic bubbles.
The reaction opens up the brain-blood barrier — a nearly impenetrable shield between the brain’s blood vessels and cells that make up brain tissue.
In this case, the West Virginia team targeted the hippocampus and the memory and cognitive centers of the brain that are impacted by plaques found in patients with Alzheimer’s.
Link to full article: https://www.wvnews.com/news/wvnews/historic-breakthrough-wvu-rockefeller-neuroscience-team-first-to-use-ultrasound/article_cfe6fefc-eee9-5add-b853-23642a0a91a7.html
FP Edit: Way to promote science, guys!
HomeAloneAgain
I visited my grandma on Christmas. She thought i was a robber & hysterically cried until i left. i cried myself all day. F- alzheimer's
Fattbeard
This gets me excited that we might see an actual treatment for Alzheimer's one day. Next step is a cure!
TheSlackerKing
What were the results of the treatment?
Waitinglikeastalkingbutler
8BitFish
Terrible disease that truly destroys a human beings mind and soul. Good on them.
teabone413
fucking amazing!!!!!
LaMerMerci
And if this is the cure, let’s hope it’s affordable too.
4noku
Seems a bit like advanced ECT, but I admit I'm going in at face value before reading in full.
AllAboutThatD
Annnd? The story ends too soon.
Rockychunk88
No, it's just that's all there is to report right now. This is step 1 of a potential series of 100 steps to actual treatment.
StrategicWeaponsPlatformNineAndThreeQuarters
451: Unavailable due to legal reasons. That means the site's scamming you for your data.
DiceyBusiness
My fave part is where the article doesn't state what the treatment is actually meant to achieve beyond 'opening the blood-brain barrier'.
SippyTurtle
I think the idea is so you can get larger molecule drugs into the brain.
DaltWisney
Agreed, that's the most important part. I imagine it was to allow drug delivery.
YesButMaybe
yes it does - could be clearer. “Plaques [ ] block-up the brain’s connectivity,” ... "these plaques are cleared with ultrasound technology"
JazzSpazzCat
Mom has it. She is under 60.
GooseNipples8
My dad died at 63 from Early Onset a few years ago. It fucking sucks.
theorell
Fuck Alzheimer's
YourIceCreamMan
I'm sorry- You have Alzheimer's and cancer. Well- at least I don't have cancer.
Rickyexpress
Hey this article is security blocked in EU.
confirmsthings
And then insurance companies will charge $150,000 per treatment
JohnSelth
The research into that particular treatment method likely cost hundreds of millions to get to this point. Billions of you total all the
JohnSelth
Failures that ruled out methods and drugs.
anhh67
Let's Gooooo Mountaineers! Proud of my Alma Mater!
IHaveBeenConfusedForACyberTerrorist
Go 'eers!
georgerwerth2
Horrible disease! Had a dear friend commit suicide when diagnosed. Gave me a nice pocket knife a week before he did it. Didn’t dawn on me!
TresusIbor
FINALLY! ONE OF THE FUCKING AMAZING TREATMENTS I HEAR ABOUT IN SCIENCE ARTICLES ACTUALLY GETS IMPLEMENTED.
RosesAreRedIfYouNoDed
Good God, they discovered dr Rife!
JupitersWitch
Don’t avoid eating olive oil and animal fat like fish or shrimp. Unfortunately this generation avoided fat thinking it made them fat. 1/2
JupitersWitch
Low fat diets are associated with neurological issues. I don’t think we’ll see as much of this disease in the future. 2/
FirstOfTheDead
This is awesome and all but this article is over a year old.
LiteralVampirePotBellyGoblins
And it's not treatment, it's a method of access for potential treatment. Nobody fucking reads.
sans3go
Didnt they do this on Grey's Anatomy?
thereaverofdarkness
I don't want a news publication about it, I want a documentary about it!!
buttwheek
Great. This is so encouraging
00nnewbe
My dad is losing a battle to it now. I miss my dad even though he stands there in front of me. He struggles to remember me sometimes.
purpleBoner
Thanks to Science, Researchers, folks who worked Uber hard to get to their scientific/technical roles, University of WV and trial patients
purpleBoner
Note: fictional overlords NOT included
zombiejedediah
WVnews blocks EU, so here: https://medium.com/@FUSFoundation/emerging-applications-of-focused-ultrasound-alzheimers-disease-c34e9d0273cf
zombiejedediah
In a misguided implementation of GDPR - which makes me wonder what they would do to my personal data if they had it!
avosel
Neuroscience researcher here. Bad and good news. Bad is that unless there is some treatment that they don't describe/I missed, this (1/?)
avosel
is a delivery method, not a treatment. One big issue to treating issues in the brain is that it is difficult to deliver drugs across (2/?)
avosel
*treating diseases Sorry, I'm highly caffeinated and typing this on my phone.
avosel
the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This treatment opens it up enough that we can deliver drugs and other substances through it. So this (3/?)
avosel
is not a way to treat Alzheimers. But it is a way to deliver things that will treat it (which we're still developing). The good news: (4/?)
avosel
not only can we use this to deliver medicine for Alzheimers, we can use it to deliver medicine for any disease of the brain. A couple (5/?)
avosel
of the articles I skimmed discussed its use in treating brain tumors as well. So to sum up, this article is sensationalized, but this (6/7)
mrika
Hello fellow researcher, the good news is that the ultrasound vibrations may be the treatment (1/2)
mrika
http://news.mit.edu/2019/brain-wave-stimulation-improve-alzheimers-0314 (2/2)
avosel
Well they may have some effect, but that's not what the article you linked talked about. It was talking about stim at 80 HZ, which...
avosel
amplifies/mimics naturally occurring gamma oscillations in the brain. The ultrasound used in this treatment is at least 2,000 Hz. Probably..
avosel
closer to 2,000,000 Hz. So it affects the treated tissues through direct physical contact, rather than interacting with systemic...
avosel
electric oscilatrions.