Is young blood the answer? Getty
The long-awaited results of a trial involving the injection of blood from young people as a treatment for 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 disease have been met with criticism.
In 2014, a team led by at Stanford University received approval to inject young human blood plasma into older people with 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚. Young mouse blood had of older mice, prompting Wyss-Coray to found the firm Alkahest. Results were finally presented at a summit on clinical trials for Alzheimer’s in Boston this week.
The trial suggests treatment with young plasma聽鈥 mostly from people aged 18 to 25聽鈥 does have potential effects on 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 symptoms, says Karoly Nikolich聽of Alkahest. He says improvements were seen in mental skills and the ability to do聽daily activities. 鈥淭hey had more awareness of self and their surroundings,鈥 says Nikolich.
Advertisement
Placebo problems
Initially, the plan was to give one group the treatment and another a placebo of saline, and have them swap places after a number of weeks. However, several people dropped out, says聽Nikolich.
So a new trial was begun that included no placebo group, just weekly injections of plasma for four weeks. To assess its effects, the team used placebo data from the original version of the trial, says Nikolich.
This may make the results unusable, says Michael Conboy at the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like picking all the aces out of a deck of cards and then shuffling the deck.鈥
Nikolich says that weekly questionnaires completed by caregivers showed real, objective improvements in participants鈥 abilities in daily life. But Conboy says the study design makes the results nearly irrelevant. 鈥淭he caregivers will flag up any slightest change as indicating that the treatment is working,鈥 he says.
Read more: Exclusive: Inside the clinic offering young blood to cure ageing
Topics:
