Via FuturePundit, a link to a new study about a molecule called TFP5 that “restores memory loss and reverses symptoms of Alzheimer’s.” The mice “displayed a substantial reduction in the various disease symptoms along with restoration of memory loss,” without any of signs of toxicity.
So how long, FuturePundit Randall Parker asks, before TFP5 and other new Alzheimer’s drugs find their way to humans? Seven years? Maybe ten? Maybe never?
“If I had Alzheimer’s … I’d inject myself with TFP5 immediately. No way would I wait for the drug regulatory process … If TFP5 does damage to humans better to run the risk of dying from it in the short term than the slow death of one’s mind over several years … I’d rather run the risk and if an experimental treatment is going to kill me at least rapidly let the medical researchers know that the treatment is a failure. Go down fighting.”
Did James Franco wait a decade for FDA approval before treating his movie dad John Lithgow with ALZ-112? Did Caesar the chimp wait for bioethicists to weigh in before jump-starting the simian revolution? Would you wait if you or someone you cared about was wasting away?
From a 2009 paper by Joseph Wolpin (PDF):
“Because society stands on the precipice of an age in which psychoactive drugs will be used primarily for enhancement, rather than medical treatment, the FDA should recognize this new drug use reality and establish a separate, appropriate regulatory scheme for cognitive enhancers, one that responds to the common non-medical use of these drugs and best ensures their safety and efficacy.”
