Authors: Henry E. Young, Mark O. Speight.
Alzheimer’s disease is an insidious and progressive loss of balance and cognitive memories from present time to distant past that occurs in reverse chronological order. While the cause for AD is poorly understood, the presence of tau, aggregation of beta-amyloid protein, activated microglia, and massive losses of neurons and their synaptic processes have been associated with the disease. Genetics appear to play a major role in AD, but comorbidities intervene as well. There are five drug treatments approved to control the symptoms of the disease, but none were clinically proven to alter the course or decrease the risk for AD. Death eventually occurs, usually 3-9 years after initial diagnosis. Stem cells, e.g., embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells; mesenchymal stem cells, medicinal signaling cells, and neural stem cells have been suggested as potential treatments for AD. While clinical trials demonstrated safety of administering some of these stem cells, none demonstrated any efficacy for reversing the symptoms of AD. We report the use of adult telomerase positive stem cells as a treatment modality for reversing the symptoms of AD. In a small cohort clinical trial (n=4), there were no adverse reactions reported for any individual treated. In addition, efficacy for telomerase positive stem cells approximated 50% for reduction in symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease up to four months after their last telomerase positive stem cell treatment.
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