OT: Potential Milestone in the Prevention & Treatment of CTE
This article by ScienceDaily sums it up pretty well. Link
Author Kun Ping Lu, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Translational Therapeutics in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), states "Our study shows that an early neurodegenerative process induced by the toxic tau protein can begin just hours after a traumatic brain injury. In both cell models of stress and in mouse models simulating sport- and military-related TBI, the production of this pathogenic protein, called cis P-tau, disrupts normal neurological functioning, spreads to other neurons and leads to widespread neuronal death.We have developed a potent monoclonal antibody that can prevent the onset of widespread neurodegeneration by identifying and neutralizing this toxic protein and restoring neurons' structural and functional abilities."
Whether or not this research translates into effective interventions, there's still typically the caveat of new treatments taking years to receive FDA approval. Fortunately, though, that's a topic which is receiving some attention -- Kate Upton's Uncle Fred actually proposed a bill to congress that, if passed, would accelerate the process.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
You run the risk of contracting the toxic tau proteins.
Tau protein... little general there Harvard... Getting Abs past the BBB in there will be annoying enough...
Great article nonetheless
lots of contact sports are going to be under a lot of pressure until/unless there are some good solutions to the concussion issues. Avoiding them in the first instance is best, but keeping them from doing long-term damage when they do happen is also a big part of the solution
what are you talking about? Concussions and CTE don't correlate? Many very smart individuals (all of whom specialize in medicine) would disagree with you. Many believe concussions are a precursor to CTE...
no one said (at least I don't think anyone did) that you need to have a concussion in order to develop CTE nor did anyone say that if you had a concussion you would definitely end up developing CTE. But to say they don't correlate means there is no correlation and that is clearly not true.
There is an increased incidence of CTE in people who have had a traumatic brain injury when compared to those people who haven't and thus, there is a correlation. Maybe we just disagree on what correlation means....
If your chances of developing CTE are increased by sustaining a traumatic brain injury, is that not the very definition of a correlation? Is a concussion not a traumatic brain injury?
A lack of correlation is a correlation as well...I suppose. I agree if you plot CTE vs. Concussion/TBI you will get a number that suggestive of correlation. If you plot CTE vs. TBI severity or occurence you probably get a number that is less suggestive but still pretty high.. That is coincidence however. Subconcussive blows are a precursor of CTE as well. It's not clear why it develops in some cases and not others. If we take concussions out of the game we are still going to have CTE.
SF Wolverine equates concussion and CTE. That is what I was responding to before stepping into the correlation/causation morass. To address the morass is to define concussion - which in the study of CTE at least is problematic.
for dummies version?
After head injuries, there is a substance that is produced that kills brain cells in a matter of hours. They have something to counteract the effects.
This is great news and everything just wondering how it relates to a Michigan Football fansite or am I missing it?
Thanks for explaining that I looked at this and didn't realize we were talking about head trauma from sports injuries.
Sorry to be "that guy," UMProud, but what in the fuck did you think a piece in a sports blog mentioning a way to mitigate CTE was about?
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
No. You're missing it. By about 10 fucking light years.
If you dont want to read OT stuff dont click on it. It really is that easy.
Thing is, I'm not so sure that this is OT.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Good luck using an antibody therapy whose target is intracellular AND in the brain.... Also tau is damn common, it'll be like the kinase inhibitor argument all over again. Specificity will be king here, but that doesn't matter if the target isn't druggable. This is not going to go well if this is the best target they have at the moment.
Nature may be the most prestigious journal, but it's research articles are commonly retracted or proven wrong, due to the pressure to publish placed on academics.
If the CTE is based on amyloid (protein aggregate) formation, an antibody that prevents aggregation, and hence brain damage, could prevent the negative results due to bruising and violent shots to the brain.
Except this research is based around the Tau hypothesis, so this monoclonal Ab idea of theirs has to be used to prevent hyperphosphorylation, which seems pretty damn hard to do.
Not clear on this, or maybe I'm just drunk, but does this reverse the effects of CTE/tau that is already in place in a human brain? Or is it preventive? The former would be extremely good.
would be particularly good for guys like me.
It wouldn't reverse much if anything at all. CNS neurons are notoriously hard to regenerate. Even then when slight neurogeneration does occur, the cells are aimless in function so they might end up causing more damage.
Monoclonal antibodies had been perceived a couple of decades ago as the potential silver bullet to cure a wide array of diseases. Unfortunately, things didn't work out as well as expected...not by a long shot.
Maybe this will be one of those times that they get it right.
I'll see myself out. I'm drunk and am on my way to bed.
I don't knwo whether this can be used as a diagnosis or a biomarker for TBI. the diagnosis of TBI is very hard, and sometimes more important.
I would love to see a cure for this. My mom died of Alzheimer's last November. My mom suffered a stroke and it coincided with her development of alzheimers. Her doctor said there was no relationship between the two, but I couldn't help but think there was, as she was fine before her stroke. Her deteriation was extremely difficult to watch and live through - so very sad and heart breaking. She got it in her early-60's, which robbed her of her golden years. It is a very cruel disease, not just for the victims, but for their loved ones as well.
I hope and pray for a cure so that other victims and their families don't suffer.