
What we’re doing could be, really, a game-changer.”ĭesigned to hinder and prevent the development of the disease, which affects more than 6 million Americans, the vaccine utilizes a medication known as Protollin. “Alzheimer’s is one of the major diseases of our modern era. The vaccine, which-as of December-is being tested in trials with human patients at BWH for the first time, represents an exciting advancement in battling a devastating illness for which there are currently “no good treatments,” Weiner says. And now, after nearly 20 years of intense research, the codirector of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital adds another major entry to his eclectic résumé: spearheading the creation of a pioneering new nasal vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease.
Phantom pain management clinical trials boston trial#
“If the trial is positive,” Kapur says, “it suggests that could change a lot healthcare economics and the overall trajectory of these patients’ lives.” -Makena Gera The Alzheimer’s Trackerįrom distinguished doctor to published novelist to Hollywood film director (yes, really), Howard Weiner has worn many hats throughout his decades-long career. Not only can it increase the likelihood of patients being discharged from the hospital earlier, in better condition, and with a smaller chance of heart-damage-related readmission, it can also prevent the onset of heart failure-and cut down on the $31 billion spent annually in the U.S.

Should the trial succeed, the technique could be hugely important for heart attack patients. and Europe, is set to conclude in the next two to three years.

The Door-to-Unload’s pivotal clinical trial, which is actively enrolling 700 patients across the U.S. “As a result, that patient is less likely to potentially develop heart failure.” “The combination to reduce the amount of heart damage sustained by the heart attack,” Kapur says. This allows the heart to recover faster and increases its receptivity to treatment. A critical part of a new treatment technique that Kapur and his colleagues developed called the “Door-to-Unload” approach, the pump-which, at less than a quarter inch in diameter, is the smallest of its kind in the world-supports the heart by taking over its task of pumping blood to the rest of the body. A heart pump developed by Danvers-based medical technology company Abiomed, the Impella is inserted into the heart 30 minutes before the start of an angioplasty-the most widely used heart attack treatment, which employs a balloon-tipped catheter to open blocked arteries.
