Alzheimer’s: The New Method Of Dr Francisco Lopera

I s there in the world today five major study s looking for drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Four of them take place in the United States and one in Colombia. The latter is headed by Doctor Francisco Lopera. The latter has been studying this disease for more than 30 years and has already made incredible progress.

The difference between Dr. Francisco Lopera’s work and that of other researchers is that, through chance and hard research, he found a new way to approach this disease. A path that results from the genetic peculiarities he found in one of his patients.

Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia  that causes great suffering to those who have it and to their families. The progressive loss of memory and of the different functions is equivalent to a slow death of identity, of life projects, of being.

Many people around the world expect, if not a cure, at least a more effective treatment than those of today.

Dr. Francisco Lopera’s research journey

Dr. Francisco Lopera is conducting a study in which he received collaboration from the National Institute of Health in the United States, the Banner Institute, the Genentech Company and, more recently, experts from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Instutu Schepens of Ocular Research. The heart of his work takes place at the University of Antioquia (Colombia).

He spent many hours trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Significant progress has been made but the drugs that exist on the market remain limited. This is why research has focused in recent years on prevention  rather than cure.

Today there are increasingly precise early detection methods. However, these are sophisticated procedures that are currently not available to everyone. They are only used in research groups. It is likely that we can all benefit in the short term, which would be a big step forward.

A different path

Dr. Francisco Lopera found a new avenue for research and, possibly, for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. It all started in 1984, when he was a resident in neurology.

Then came his cabinet u n patient only 47 who was already at an advanced stage of the disease. Dr. Francisco Lopera learned then that the father, grandfather and uncles of this patient had also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

This led him to make a genealogy of this family. He then discovered that the first family group had a hereditary form of Alzheimer’s. Later, already as a researcher, he discovered two other families with the same characteristics.

Eleven years after this first discovery, his working group confirmed that it was indeed Alzheimer’s disease and that the disease, in this precise case, was due to a genetic mutation.

New cases appeared over time. They found the same characteristic in each of them. They called it “mutation paisa” because there was no other reference in the world. However, they had not yet discovered what is truly exceptional.

New Horizons

Dr Lopera explains that in Alzheimer’s disease there is a kind of accumulation of “waste” in the brain. This waste is made up of a protein called amyloid.

The fragments of the latter unite and form something like a “slimy substance” which clings to neurons and causes a series of failures. The other part of the “waste” is the tau, which envelops the neuron, locks it in and kills it. Tau is more harmful.

One of Dr. Francisco Lopera’s patients was part of one of the families with the mutation, including herself. However, unlike all of her relatives, she did not develop the disease early.

The ‘re first symptoms appeared rent in effect at the age of 70 years. This was a very exceptional case, which is why the studies focused on her.

After carrying out extensive studies on her in Boston, experts found that her brain was filled with amyloid in a higher proportion than in other cases.

On the other hand, it had very little tau. The investigations enabled them to verify that  the patient had another mutation which inhibited the production of tau and thus delayed the progression of the disease.

The discovery was published in the journal  Nature Medicine . It opens up a new horizon for researchers. They believe that gene therapy could be carried out based on the information collected from this patient. In other words, reproducing genetic information in other people.

They are even considering the possibility of developing a drug that mimics the mechanism of protective mutation.

Our thoughts

In this article, we’ll tell you about Alzheimer’s disease, its genetic component, and presymptomatic tests for the disease.