Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, 21 Sep.- Cuba maintains as a priority the fight against Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, while researching drugs to improve the quality of life of patients, said today the newspaper Granma.
The largest of the Antilles implements a national intervention strategy, in which the need for participation of all sectors of society arises, the newspaper states.
Emphasis is also placed on reducing stigma towards dementia, early diagnosis from the primary health care area and the defense of the rights of the elderly with cognitive impairment, the source stresses.
The Antillean nation is the fourth oldest country in Latin America, and more than 20 percent of its population exceeds 60 years of age, the age group with the highest risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
In Cuba, said Granma, scientists work tirelessly to improve the quality of life of patients, hence they developed the a molecule NeuroEpo, a drug of the Center for Molecular Immunology in alliance with other entities.
It consists of a nasal formulation of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) with a low content of sialic acid, an isoform of composition similar to natural EPO, which occurs in the central nervous system.
"The results in phase II/III clinical trials, conducted in 174 patients, showed that there is a halt in disease progression and an improvement in cognitive variables in people who received the drug, compared to those who received placebo", stresses Granma.
Given the evidence presented, the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices will grant him, in March of this year, the Conditional Health Registry for treatment in patients with moderate and light Alzheimer’s.
Another example of Cuban science’s work to improve dementias, including Alzheimer’s, is the development of the jm-20 product, by the Center for Drug Research and Development, the newspaper noted.
This drug, which has been in preclinical research for about a decade, plans to begin clinical studies in 2023, to treat some dementias, including Alzheimer’s.
According to the 2019 Statistical Yearbook, the mortality rate in the Antillean country due to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias was five thousand 97 deaths, with a rate of 45.4 per 100 thousand inhabitants. (Text and photo: PL)
