New research bid to cure Alzheimer’s

Nov 15 2007 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

NEW research is under way in Newcastle with the vision of bringing a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Newcastle University scientists are working on a study to understand how the condition shows itself in sufferers in its early stages.

The study is under way at the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre on the Campus for Aging and Vitality at the Newcastle General Hospital site. Centre director Roy Taylor, professor of medicine and metabolism, founded the Newcastle MR Centre last year. He said: “Work is ongoing looking at people with Alzheimer’s to understand better what happens in the earliest phase of the disease.

“Maybe medicine could be better targeted or we could identify something around what is causing dementia which could one day lead to a cure.” He described the study as a “voyage of discovery of important new knowledge”. The long term project, which began last year, is ongoing and is made possible by volunteers with Alzheimer’s. They attend the centre for brain scans and some of the 30-strong team of scientists at the centre use special techniques to examine the scan itself.

Prof Taylor added that currently tablet treatments offered for the condition are not tremendously powerful. He said: “We don’t have a good understanding of what is going on in these early stages and the drugs themselves aren’t enormously effective in stopping the progression.

“We need something better for people with early stage dementia.”

He cites a breakthrough in Newcastle during the 1970s when people having dialysis were found to be getting dementia at an “alarming rate”. Scientists found there was too much aluminium in the water. From that [point dialysis was carried out using low aluminium water.

“It could be something around us more subtle that we haven’t recognised yet.”

The Newcastle MR Centre opened last year and now runs a full programme of research into a wide range of medical conditions including diabetes, dementia, liver disease, muscular dystrophy, heart disease and stroke. In the years before it opened scientists led by Prof Taylor had a world first with research published into diabetes explaining exactly what goes wrong with metabolising food which leads to over production of glucose.

It led the way forward for better treatment for the condition. Studies into the condition continue.

Without the band of 51 volunteers who travelled to Nottingham, the only place equipped with a powerful enough scanner for testing for the research, it would not have been possible to set up the centre.

Now Prof Taylor is honouring the “pioneers” from the last seven years with a special event tomorrow. He said: “The Newcastle MR Centre is a giant leap forward for medical research on Tyneside. We now have cutting edge technology to tackle vital questions across many different disciplines in medicine.”

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Pioneers pushed back to the frontiers

MIKE Feeney is hailed as one of the pioneers who played a part in continuing medical advances in Newcastle.

The 56-year-old volunteered to take part in a study into diabetes led by Professor Roy Taylor at Newcastle University.

The senior technologist in medical physics based at Newcastle General Hospital answered an advertisement appealing for volunteers.

“There was a notice asking for volunteers for research into the metabolism of diabetes. My partner has the condition so I was interested.

“I work in a research department and find it fascinating to help with pushing back the frontiers of medicine.”

Mike, from Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, travelled to Nottingham on several occasions for tests to be carried out on him using a magnetic scanner.

“Nottingham was the only place in the country that had a scanner powerful enough to do the research.

“I had a scan first thing in the morning, then I ate a meal containing special tracker material and had scans throughout the day so they could see how my body absorbed the material.”

Blood samples were also taken from the volunteers.

Mike also took part in a project looking at liver and fatigue and had a scan at the Newcastle MTR Centre.

He is attending the reunion which is being held tomorrow at the centre alongside other volunteers from the past seven years.