Pfizer Halts Research for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Because It's Too Expensive | Hacker News Reader

Pfizer Halts Research for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Because It's Too Expensive

gizmodo.com

11 pointschriskanan6 comments

It is too expensive since there is already a working method developed by Dr Dale Bredesen. In a first trial with 10 patients he cured 9. His method is not a magic pill but is based on doing everything possible to reduce inflammation and optimises 36 parameters.

Interesting, I hadn't heard of Dr. Bredesen before. Here's a link[1] that has some details on his treatment method. At first glance it doesn't strike me as too revolutionary: eat well (cut simple carbs, eat more fruits/veg and fish), get plenty of sleep, a moderate amount of exercise, and practice good oral hygiene. Not sure how this reversed Alzheimer's in 90% of his subjects?

[1] http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/memory-loss-associated-wit...

This study doesn't have a control group. Studies without a control group are not very reliable because you can't compare the results of the treatment with the expected results. Perhaps in the selection method they overestimated the problems of the patients. For example in:

> Six of the patients had had to discontinue working or were struggling with their jobs at the time of presentation, and all were able to return to work or continue working with improved performance

Is this usual or unusual? When you et a new illness or symptom you may not be able to work, but after a time you get some coping strategies and adapt to your new capabilities and can return (partially?) to work. Perhaps they got an usual counseling to help them, and all the effect is due to the counselling and not to the diet. Perhaps they get weekly/monthly interview that were unintended counseling. Perhaps ...

Without a control group, it's difficult to guess how many of them would have got a similar result.

Maybe they forgot that the research could result in a profitable therapy?

It’s true, if you cure Alzheimer’s you will probably be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, but scientifically Pharma is groping in the dark at this point in time. The last decade or so has had a series of extremely expensive last stage clinical failures and Pfizer isn’t known for cutting edge science.

Curing Alzheimer's or any other condition is the wrong approach. It is way more profitable to treat the condition and turn it into something that is merely manageable rather than making your revenue stream disappear entirely. This is the most humane approach to improve the quality of life for shareholders and the health of executives' bonuses.

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