The full soul loathes an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

---Proverbs 7:27

semagacestat fails to treat Alzheimer's

Yesterday, Gina Kolata in the NYT wrote that a large PHARMA is abandoning its drug semagacestat that decreases the production of amyloid in patients with Alzheimer's. IMHO I believe that this was a failed concept from the start.  Alll neurodegenerative diseases (multiple sclerosis, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's and many many more) occur when the central nervous system is stressed and reacts excessively. The answer for all these conditions is the same, rein in this excessive response. Treat these conditions at the source..I wrote this about Parkinson's years ago. I think PURSOR could work equally as well on other neurodegenerative disorders. It is at least worth a try.

Elsewhere, researchers at NIH have declared that mood altering drugs appear to partially protect the brain against neurodegenerative diseases  I am glad to see that mainstream medicine is coming around to this axiom.

All mood altering drugs influence the immune system (immunomodulate)

The monoamines dopamine and serotonin v. glucocorticoids as the first regulators of stress

Sapolsky in this superb article discusses the damage that uncontrolled stress can do. He promotes the mainline hypothesis that corticosteroids are the primal regulators. I think there is a far more primitive reciprocal regulatory system:

• The structures of both levodopa and serotonin are far simpler than glucocorticoids. 
• The metabolite pathways for both monoamines are far simpler; both are only 2 steps from essential amino acids. 
• Both TYRosine and TRYptophan are first hydroxylated and then decarboxylated to achieve their endpoints, DA and 5-HT. 
• The enzymes for both are either identical (L-aromatic amino acid decarboxylase) or were identical in the past.