patrick.net

curious2 says

It saddens and amazes me that so few of today's billionaires seem interested in funding research that might save their own lives or brains, while so many prefer to spend more on a larger yacht instead. And yet, government funding priorities seem similarly short-sighted to me.

I believe that what billionaires have is a big ego, more than a big imagination. And thus, they'd rather send a few hundred million to a charity hospital, to pat themselves on the back as some 'great' philanthropist.

Hence, I'm not all that impressed with the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation because in a nutshell, what they're doing is making generic Rx below wholesale costs for the third world. In other words, being a pharma subsidizer. As you know, bioavailable Allicin from garlic can hinder many pathogens out there but yet, it's a skunkworks project. Garlic is $5 per pound.

Thanks Rin, following one of your earlier comments I have been consuming garlic whenever I experience cold symptoms, and I do find (anecdotally but consistently) that it seems to help.

Regarding The Gates Foundation, I am sometimes very impressed but I have also found it ironic that they tend to emphasize third world delivery over developing new technology. They have reportedly provided more than $300 million for vaccine research, mainly for HIV which infects ~30 million Africans:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Gates-Foundation-awards-287-million-for-HIV-1209297.php

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/14828/20140904/gates-foundation-donates-25-million-to-aid-hiv-vaccine-research.htm

In an interview, Bill Gates said that no matter how good your technology is, it doesn't matter if you can't deliver it to the people who need it. I respect that point, but I think the best and most valuable work creates new solutions that didn't exist before. As you've noted, there isn't a shortage of potential STEM workers, but I would say there is a shortage of STEM funding to develop real solutions to widespread problems. Funding such research has many benefits, including enabling STEM grads to achieve their potential while ultimately enabling the whole world to share in the benefit of that work.

curious2 says

I have been consuming garlic whenever I experience cold symptoms, and I do find (anecdotally but consistently) that it seems to help.

Try the isolated, activated, and stablised Allicin, as oppose to the bulb, since a bulb's allinin isn't completely converted. Here's a good company, www.allimax.us, the results are much better.

curious2 says

They have reportedly provided more than $300 million for vaccine research, mainly for HIV

The thing is that it's still name dropping for him. I mean who wouldn't want to say to others than they promote eradicating HIV? That's generally how billionaires think.

curious2 says

I respect that point, but I think the best and most valuable work creates new solutions that didn't exist before.

Yes, and this is the reason why I'm not impressed by Gates.

curious2 says

shortage of STEM funding to develop real solutions to widespread problems. Funding such research has many benefits, including enabling STEM grads to achieve their potential while ultimately enabling the whole world to share in the benefit of that work.

STEM graduates, like all graduates, need a livelihood. And for many ppl, that's leaving STEM for careers in consulting, finance, law, or health care. In general, ppl with motivation, drive, and intelligence, won't want to be cannon fodder for a system which completely exploits them as in academia.

Raw crushed garlic is more effective from an overall medicinal standpoint than Allicin which has a very short lifespan and is just one of the many active ingredients in garlic. If you cannot stomach it or don't like the breath it's a decent alternative just for the Allicin aspect of garlic. Garlic is considered one of the most potent natural antimicrobials by some and that view is consistent with my experiences (not just for viral infections, you can literally chew it and effectively combat strep throat). Regarding Parkinsons, Ampakines are considered a compound of interest, also for many other indications, generally improving memory functions, but research and drug development seems to be crawling along at snails pace there as well. Piracetam is a weak one (which you can get as a supplement) if you need a few good hours of focused coding or improved brain power for an exam or during a battle of chess ;)

curious2 says

Am I the only one to notice this pattern: when R's are in charge, they call stem cell research "immoral" (though they launch phony wars killing thousands of people including children); when D's are in charge, they call stem cell research "unaffordable" (though they launch infinite mandatory spending on entrenched industry revenue models)?

The solution is quite simple. Infect every Republican senator and representative and their family members with diseases that have no cure but that stem cell research offers good hope of a cure. Watch them change their tune in a second.

The only principle that Republicans consistently uphold is the principle of self-interest.

That sounds like Mad TV's cure for cancer.

A number of years ago, when Gates first created MS research, he wanted to envision his company in a similar manner as a Bell Labs of yesteryear. So it was suppose to be place where ppl with independent ideas could work on them. What happened, however, was that when his so-called free researchers came up with things like handheld devices, etc, him and Ballmer shot them down, because that didn't necessarily promote the Windows platform. Notice that a decade later ... those devices are now ubiquitous?

Here's my complaint about the above ... if he wanted mere slaves, then just say it, 'Hey, you work for me, now do as you're told or you're fired!'

The fact that a couple of billionaires were so ill equipped to deal with some middle class creative workers is astounding. When I retire from this hedge fund, ppl like Gates won't be able to hire me. I'll tell 'em right off the bat that if they think they can control and manipulate me, then they can go f'ck themselves. He can insult me all that he wants but since I pay my own bills, he's powerless. That's the difference between an independent soul and that of a corporate kiss *ss.

I'd realized that when Warren Buffet and him did a town hall discussion with Columbia business school attendants. Everyone was so keen on getting approval that they didn't ask either of the billionaires any tough questions. It was like they were sucking some c*ck to perhaps find some work there in the future. It was lame.

mell says

Raw crushed garlic is more effective from an overall medicinal standpoint than Allicin which has a very short lifespan and is just one of the many active ingredients in garlic.

You can have it both ways, a stabilized Allicin (via chemical process engineering) along with crushed garlic, then one or the other.

Dan8267 says

The solution is quite simple. Infect every Republican senator and representative and their family members with diseases that have no cure but that stem cell research offers good hope of a cure. Watch them change their tune in a second.

Just the reps and senators - not their family members. These elected officials have a long history of abandoning their spouses on their death bed to run off with half-their-age office staffers or Argentinian models.

For anyone interested in reading further about the topic, here is a report from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine following a 2013 SF workshop "in
collaboration with the Centre for Regenerative Medicine (CRM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)." It includes a "snapshot" of current technologies and suggests criteria for future stem cell trials.

BTW, the included UK link to the TRANSEURO project is not working at the moment, though it appears in search results and the project remains online at an EU URL, and the project is described on the NIH website.

mell says

Ampakines are considered a compound of interest, also for many other indications, generally improving memory functions, but research and drug development seems to be crawling along at snails pace there as well. Piracetam is a weak one (which you can get as a supplement)

Thanks mell :)

I found links showing interest in ampakines, and links to online retailers. Unfortunately, I have not yet found any published studies or results.

Meanwhile, I've been finding providers of stem cell technology, including an SF company:

http://sfstemcellcenter.com/stem-cell-treatment/

I haven't yet found data to evaluate results though.

BTW, although Google News can be the most current way to see the most recently updated stories, it suffers from a commercial bias, manipulated by publicists and public relations (PR) campaigns. Just as Google search spawned a search engine optimization (SEO) industry, Google News has apparently done likewise for the PR industry. I've been reading about Parkinson's and Google News alerted me to a widely reported study that said Parkinson's patients improve more with expensive placebos than cheap ones; the sample size turned out to be 12 patients. The study authors note that it provides "Class III evidence," i.e. the lowest of any type of study other than Internet surveys and phoning an expert, but it made headlines almost simultaneously throughout the commercial press. I am guessing the PR campaign to push the study cost probably 100x more than the study itself, and who knows how many studies of the same size found no effect at all before one turned up saying higher costs confer medicinal benefit. Seeing the glass half-full, I suppose these campaigns were happening long before Google arrived, and now Google News makes obvious the "invisible hand" that had previously been hidden.

Also, if this Parkinson's Disease thread gets the attention of anyone affiliated with California biotech companies, they might want to know that as of November CIRM still had $1 billion to invest and expressed interest in co-funding with industry and investors its $3 billion under Proposition 71. Consistent with the OP at the start of my reading, I have found distressingly little federal funding, but considerable funding at the California state level and from industry and private charities (e.g. the Michael J. Fox Foundation).

curious2 says

Google News has apparently done likewise for the PR industry. I've been reading about Parkinson's and Google News alerted me to a widely reported study that said Parkinson's patients improve more with expensive placebos than cheap ones; the sample size turned out to be 12 patients

Have you thought about using Duck Duck Go? It'll spread the search out, over the various search engines w/o revealing you, and then, it's harder for them to profile their ads towards you?

Thanks Rin, I've been using DuckDuckGo since Patrick mentioned it. I'm not worried about ads, but I do feel somewhat uncomfortable about Big Brother's "Total Information Awareness" combined with "Total Recall." I was fascinated by reports on "60 minutes" about superior memory, including considerable evidence that the ability to forget may be evolutionarily adaptive. I think the EU has a point regarding "the right to be forgotten", though I don't blame the search engines. Many Facebook users report that disclosing their opinions caused them to lose friends, for example. As a species, we have no evolutionary history of "Total Information Awareness" and "Total Recall", and we see many examples where seemingly banal information found online caused serious consequences IRL.

I use a combination of VPN, DuckDuckGo, and Disconnect for privacy.

As for social media, I'd completely rejected it because the way I see it, it's fertile grounds for ID theft.

I created a thread for the sf tech companies involved, but the report merits a comment here too:

"Genentech, 23andMe ink $60 million Parkinson's disease research deal
***
The deal, announced Tuesday, will tap whole genome sequencing data for about 3,000 people in 23andMe's database, including those who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's, a progressive, nervous system disorder that is tagged in more than 50,000 Americans annually. Consenting immediate family members of Parkinson's patients also will be included in the study."

Along with the comments about things that might hopefully work someday, I should probably post this report about something that doesn't work: Creatine monohydrate.... Previous research in mice suggested that creatine supplements might potentially protect nerve cells.
***
The new study included more than 1,700 people in the United States and Canada who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease within the previous five years. All were receiving treatment for Parkinson's disease. As part of the study, they were randomly assigned to take creatine or a placebo in addition to their usual treatment.

The patients were enrolled from March 2007 to May 2010 and followed up until September 2013. The study was halted early because those taking creatine showed no differences in disease progression compared to those taking the placebo."

In slightly better news, small studies suggest a new breath test for VOCs might become the first definitive test to diagnose Parkinson's Disease. Researchers are preparing larger studies.

Also in possibly better news, a daily beer may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Today's NY Times reports on additional research: An American biotech company [in Cambridge, MA], NeuroPhage, for example, plans to enroll Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients in 2016 and 2017 in Phase 1 trials of its new product, a genetically engineered compound derived from a naturally occurring virus called M13. Researchers have demonstrated that this compound can enter rodents’ brains and neutralize toxic clumps of alpha-synuclein and the corresponding targets for Alzheimer’s (the proteins amyloid beta and tau).

A Roche and Prothena collaboration Phase 1 trial Reports Reduction of Free Serum Alpha-Synuclein After Single Dose of PRX002. Roche is the parent company of SFBA's Genentech, a large biotech company based in South San Francisco.

From Brazil: "Mitomycin-treated undifferentiated embryonic stem cells as a safe and effective therapeutic strategy in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease"

"Barker and many other researchers say toxins get taken up in the bowels of patients and that over the years these are slowly transported to the central nervous system until they become lodged in some of the cells of the brain. There, they ultimately wreak damage to cells of the mid-brain, where dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in motor control, is made.

Prions were first proposed to be the causes of fatal brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob in the 1980s, and have since been linked to a number of conditions affecting humans and animals... As to the identity of the protein transformed in Parkinson’s, the main candidate is alpha-synuclein, which is found in the brain, though its function is unclear. Recent research suggests it could be transformed into an abnormal state and play a key role in development of Parkinson’s."

The article reports on vaccine research already linked above, and fetal VM transplants where the transplanted tissue also developed Parkinson's.

Rin says

How about using pre-existing adult stem cells, to re-generate the substantia nigra, the section of the brain damaged by Parkinson's?

Because you'll give them paranoid schizophrenia?

Regarding the isradipine Phase III trial linked above, the study should last three years. I tried to edit the original comment but couldn't for some reason.

Notable mouse research at The Buck Institute, an SFBA research facility:

"Lithium may help halt progression of Parkinson's"

"Low-Dose Lithium Reduces Side Effects From Most Common Parkinson’s Disease Treatment"

It's a long way from a mouse to a human, but interesting nonetheless.

Notable mouse research at UNC:

"The researchers [at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill] genetically modified white blood cells called macrophages to produce glial cell–derived neurotrophic factor, or GDNF, and deliver it to the brain. Glial cells provide support and protection for nerve cells throughout the brain and body, and GDNF can heal and stimulate the growth of damaged neurons.
***
In addition to delivering GDNF, the engineered macrophages can “teach” neurons to make the protein for themselves by delivering both the tools and the instructions needed: DNA, messenger RNA and transcription factor... Using immune cells avoids the body’s natural defenses. The repurposed macrophages are also able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, something most medicines cannot do. The reprogrammed cells travel to the brain and produce tiny bubbles called exosomes that contain GDNF. The cells release the exosomes, which then are able to deliver the proteins to neurons in the brain."

Full article on PLOS One:

"GDNF-Transfected Macrophages Produce Potent Neuroprotective Effects in Parkinson's Disease Mouse Model"

Three updates:

“NeuroPhage in Cambridge, Mass., is based on a simple virus called M13. This product may be able to reduce the amounts of...alpha-synuclein....”

“coffee has protective qualities against...Parkinson’s disease... drinking four or five cups of coffee daily cut risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease nearly in half compared with little or no caffeine consumption.”

"A pilot study of 12 patients given small doses of nilotinib found that movement and mental function improved in all of the 11 people who completed the six-month trial, researchers reported Saturday at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago."

"Edward Burton, MD, FRCP, Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is among a team of researchers working on a way to slow down the progression of the disease.

Dr. Burton says the finding could lead to new drugs to protect the brain from neurodegeneration.
***
Dr. Burton says a clinical trial of gene therapy in humans is only 2-3 years away."

"Biotechnology company International Stem Cell Corp. (ISCO) is authorized by the Australian government to conduct a clinical trial in patients with moderate to severe Parkinson's disease. The company's subsidiary, Cyto Therapeutics, received regulatory approval from the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia.

In Cyto's future Phase I/IIa clinical trial, doctors will be able to insert replacement brain cells called neural precursor cells into 12 patients."

"Pioneering Neuroprotective Results Achieved in Parkinson's Disease Preclinical Studies Allows immune system to repair brain damage; results reported in Journal of Neuroscience

A team of scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Longevity Biotech, Inc. demonstrated that neuroprotection could be attained in preclinical models by a novel drug candidate that changes immune responses. The results, published today in the Journal of Neuroscience, describe the prevention of nerve cell damage in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease. Notably, the drug protected nerve cells that produce dopamine, which is the chemical responsible for agility and movement that is lost in human disease.
***
The new Longevity Biotech drug (LBT-3627) was able to change the function of these cells from killing the nerve cells to protecting them. This is especially significant for the Nebraska team, as the mechanism parallels closely the human trials nearing completion for Parkinson's patients."

I had previously commented on NeuroPhage a year ago, and they seem to be moving ahead on the schedule they had announced then:

"The Virus That Could Cure Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and More
***
The phage M13’s goal is to infect just one type of bacteria, Escherichia coli, or E. coli, which can be found in copious amounts in the intestines of mammals. Like other microorganisms, phages such as M13 have only one purpose: to pass on their genes. In order to do this, they have developed weapons to enable them to invade, take over, and even kill their bacterial hosts. Before the advent of antibiotics, in fact, doctors occasionally used phages to fight otherwise incurable bacterial infections.
***
Immunotherapy employs specially made antibodies, rather than small molecule drugs, to target the disease’s plaques and tangles. As high school students learn in biology class, antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that are part of the body’s natural defense against infection. These proteins are designed to latch onto invaders and hold them so that they can be destroyed by the immune system. But since the 1970s, molecular biologists have been able to genetically engineer human-made antibodies, fashioned to attack undesirable interlopers like cancer cells.
***
the phage’s special abilities involved a set of proteins displayed on the tip of the virus, called GP3.
***
By 2013, NeuroPhage’s researchers had tested the new compound, which they called NPT088, in test tubes and in animals, including nonhuman primates. It performed spectacularly, simultaneously targeting multiple misfolded proteins such as amyloid beta, tau, and alpha-synuclein at various stages of amyloid assembly.
***
The concept is that this antibody could be administered to patients once or twice a month by intravenous infusion for as long as necessary.
***
NeuroPhage must now navigate the FDA’s regulatory system and demonstrate that its product is safe and effective. So far, NPT088 has proved safe in nonhuman primates. But the big test will be the phase 1A trial expected to be under way this year. This first human study proposed is a single-dose trial to look for any adverse effects in healthy volunteers. If all goes well, NeuroPhage will launch a phase 1B study involving some 50 patients with Alzheimer’s to demonstrate proof of the drug’s activity. Patients will have their brains imaged at the start to determine the amount of amyloid-beta and tau. Then, after taking the drug for six months, they will be reimaged to see if the drug has reduced the aggregates below the baseline.

“If our drug works, we will see it working in this trial,” Hillerstrom says. “And then we may be able to go straight to phase 2 trials for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.”
***
Along the way, the company will have to prove its GAIM system is superior to the competition. Currently, there are several drug and biotech companies testing products in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, against both amyloid-beta (Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, and Genentech) and tau (TauRx) and also corporations with products against alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease (AFFiRiS and Prothena/Roche). But Solomon and Hillerstrom think they have two advantages: multi-target flexibility (their product is the only one that can target multiple amyloids at once) and potency (they believe that NPT088 eliminates more toxic aggregates than their competitors’ products)."

BTW, I don't know what psycho Disliked three (1, 2, 3) of my comments above, without explanation, but if they have some scientific objection then let them present it. Apparently, (s)he Disliked basically all of my comments over a 20-day period, and is probably some closeted Muslim whom I offended and who tried to take revenge by Disliking everything from Parkinson's research to Don Henley. Meanwhile, this thread combines links to more than 40 relevant research efforts around the world, and thus PatNet provides a more comprehensive reference on this topic than anything else I've found anywhere, with the possible exception of (and certainly Honorable Mention to) the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which finances much of the best research worldwide.

“Hopefully [uncoated graphene] will pave the way for better deep brain implants to both harness and control the brain, with higher sensitivity and fewer...side effects."

Tet3FL “Stopping disruptions in cellular 'trash removal' may guard against neurodegenerative diseases”

Stem cells “Regrowing dopaminergic neurons may lead to new therapy for Parkinson's disease”

“California-based International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO) set to start clinical trials on 12 people with moderate to severe Parkinson's Disease...doctors will implant replacement brain cells, called neural precursor cells, into the patients' brains. It is hoped these cells will finish maturing into the kind of neurons which are destroyed by the movement disorder. The trials, which are the first to be carried out on humans, will give participants varying doses of neural stem cells. Patients will then have their neurological condition monitored for 12 months to see how their brains and bodies react.”

Dr Oyekpen fucks genetically modified goats and uses the stem cells from the aborted goat-man embryos to formulate cures for various diseases. The snake oil is just a carrier fluid for the active ingredient.

Ironman says

Dan, is that you?

Don't worry ironvagina, I'm sure your goats are organic. Plus, I heard you sucked the semen back out of the goat as a form of birth control.