Researchers at Monash University are conducting clinical trials of a drug that promises to be a game-changer for sufferers of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia – the same condition affecting actor Bruce Willis.
One of the most heartbreaking factors of dementia is that for most types, like Alzheimer’s disease, there is no cure, and the condition doesn’t respond to medicine.
But for some – like behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) – medicine can provide some relief from the symptoms.
Symptoms of the relatively rare form of dementia include progressive damage and shrinkage to either, or both, of the frontal (temporal) lobes of the brain, along with behavioural changes such as impulsivity, inappropriate behaviour and emotional indifference, and loss of language.
It usually affects people between the ages of 45 and 65, but has also been recorded in younger patients. It’s the same type of dementia that caused Oscar-winning actor Bruce Willis to have to retire from the profession early last year.
Currently, there is little patients can do for the symptoms if they receive an FTD diagnosis beyond making the patient as comfortable as possible .
But now, researchers from Melbourne’s Monash University researchers have developed a new drug, developed from the chemical compound sodium selenate, that they hope can actually make a dent in FTD symptoms, and they’re looking for trial participants.
Sodium selenate has been shown to increase PP2A enzyme activity and reduce tau levels in animal models of dementia, both associated with improved dementia outcomes.
What will the trial involve?
Professor Terence O’Brien and Dr Lucy Vivash, neuroscientists from Monash’s School of Translational Medicine, are heading up the trial and are looking for 120 patients aged 35 years and over, with a diagnosis of ‘possible or probable’ bvFTD.
The 52-week trial will involve half the participants being given sodium selenate and the other half a placebo. The two groups will then conduct cognitive tests, brain scans and regular phone check-ins to see if the drug makes any noticeable improvement.
The team will compare changes in brain volume for both the treatment and placebo groups. They’ll also be measuring levels of tau, a protein involved in the development of FTD in cerebrospinal fluid, the rate of cognitive decline, and any behavioural changes.
“This is an internationally unique clinical trial that, if positive, would bring to patients the first proven disease-modifying treatment for this currently untreatable and devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease,” Professor O’Brien says.
“It’s also an inexpensive drug, which is important, as we’ve seen recently that new promising treatments for dementias can cost much more than what governments and ordinary people can afford.”
Professor Brodtmann says the trial is exciting, but the group is having some difficulty recruiting participants who fit the profile, especially since bvFTD often goes undiagnosed.
“Frontotemporal dementia is often misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety or Alzheimer’s Disease,” she says.
“Carers or partners are often exhausted from navigating the health system for a correct diagnosis, as GPs tend not to think of dementia when the person in front of them is in their 30s, 40s or 50s.”
If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the trial, contact this email address or you can read more details here.
Do you know anyone with frontotemporal dementia? Is there a history of dementia in your family? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also read: What are the different types of dementia
