Against cancer and Alzheimer's
BCG vaccine may protect against Alzheimer's disease
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
A new study by scientists from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem is based on data from previous studies when patients with bladder cancer were treated with a tuberculosis vaccine. Such experimental treatment with the BCG vaccine began to be carried out in some countries in the 1960s.
The data indicate that the use of BCG vaccine for patients with bladder tumors in some countries reduced the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease. To date, these assumptions have not been properly analyzed, the authors stressed. A press release from HUJI scientists may have found an effective treatment to prevent Alzheimer's tells about the new findings of Israeli scientists.
Article by Gofrit et al. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy lowers the incident of Alzheimer's disease in bladder cancer patients published in the journal PLOS ONE – VM.
In the new study, the team followed 1,371 patients with bladder cancer who were treated at one of the medical centers. Over time, 65 people (the average age was 68 years) began to develop Alzheimer's disease. Then scientists found out which of the patients received the BCG vaccine as part of cancer therapy.
It turned out that among the patients who did not receive the vaccine, the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease was higher. In absolute values, the data were 44 people without BCG versus 21 patients with the vaccine.
Then the scientists analyzed the effect of the vaccine among healthy people without cancer.
People without BCG had a 4 times higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who received the vaccine, scientists found.
"Our work provides a new understanding of the role of the immune system in the development of Alzheimer's disease. We see that the BCG vaccine can modulate immunity and potentially serve as a prevention of this neurodegenerative disease," said study leader Herve Berkowier. So far, scientists have not reported whether the vaccine has potential against other types of dementia. Details of the next stages of research are also still unknown.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru