NOVA — S43E19 — Can Alzheimer's Be Stopped?

00:00:05 TONY ESTRELLA: When I talk to her about what she's got coming up,

00:01:57 NARRATOR: From the barrios of Colombia to cities across the world,

00:04:53 O'BRIEN: Alzheimer's is not only my story, it could be your story,

00:07:04 Genentech is developing a treatment

00:09:16 Before her death, she told him, "I have lost myself"

00:11:56 had the same history of disease

00:14:28 That is a clear-cut signature of a genetic condition

00:16:57 who, like the Colombians, had a history of Alzheimer's

00:19:18 There was no escape

00:21:52 So that's a side effect that we will track very closely

00:24:06 which occurs in the trial,

00:25:55 for a progressive illness like Alzheimer's

00:28:18 and made a startling find

00:30:36 The trial includes people who have the mutated gene,

00:32:50 Everyone else, including Genentech,

00:34:46 to develop these drugs

00:37:00 but I don't love myself so much anymore

00:39:21 there is a drug-placebo difference

00:41:41 is getting into the brain and attacking the plaques

00:43:34 especially if the trial leads

00:45:18 for people at risk for ordinary Alzheimer's

00:47:28 which help stabilize neurons and allows them to communicate

00:49:41 Genentech, Biogen, and Lilly await the results

00:52:11 This is hell on wheels, and it's racing right for us