August 17, 2008 at 8:26 pm

The news has just come out in the last few days about a Phase II clinical trial in the U.K. that had very good success with Alzheimer’s patients. It utilized a medication which is currently approved for other uses–Urolene Blue.

The researchers called their version “Rember”, which they say is a more purified form. It is also known as methylene blue. It’s past use has been for urinary tract infections and treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning.

THIS IS THE FIRST MEDICATION TO SHOW PROMISE WITH REDUCING THE TANGLES INSIDE BRAIN CELLS. THOSE CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET WORK ON THE AMYLOID PLAQUES OUTSIDE THE BRAIN CELLS.

Here’s a link:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ICAD/tb/10320

This med must be pretty safe if it is an FDA approved drug for these other uses, so it bothers me that it will have to trudge its way through a Phase III trial and whatever else is necessary to bring it to market. The earliest it would be available is 2012 according to what I have read.

So, I’m posing the question to anyone else who is interested, What can we do to hurry this process along? Donate money? Write to the FDA?

Are there any doctors who wish to comment on the possibility of an off-label use of urolene blue combined with a very careful monitoring of the patients’ blood and urine chemistry, vital signs, etc., if the patient volunteers?

My wife is currently in a moderate stage, having had it for about 8 years.

John1943

October 7, 2008 at 5:06 pm

I registered as a member of Suite101 and sent an email to Daniel, the author of the nasal spray article, asking for comment on the differences between his article and the other one. If he replies, I’ll report back.

January 28, 2009 at 4:41 pm

I have heard that urinary tract infections (UTIs) can cause temporary poor mental performance… so I wonder if that was factored into the TauRX study. If a significant number of the women in the study entered it with low-grade UTIs, and then the women who had the methylene blue got their infections cleared up from the drug, this could be the reason for improved mental performance vs. the control group, rather than the drug’s possible effect on Alzheimers.

If they didn’t check for UTI’s then this was simply a poorly designed study.

Perhaps someone from TauRx would be willing to comment on this.

Rich

February 1, 2009 at 9:29 pm

Richz—As a point of interest….Men as well as women get UTI’s.

My loved attempted to qualify for the BAP trial…During the screening they did a urine sample. He participates in the Dimebon trial…At least one urine sample is obtained during each visit. Since they notified me of a potential health problem during a visit…I’ve got to suspect that they (clinical trial people in general) use all of the information that the blood tests, urine samples, and EKG’s, etc supply.

In my opinion…The chance that enough people with a UTI that were helped by methylene blue participated in the trial is statistically not worthy of consideration.

February 2, 2009 at 3:19 am

8)

March 30, 2009 at 10:46 pm

I have the first signs of Alzheimer’s (and not only one – I have all of the symptoms, and they have been progressively worsening).

I am heartened by some promising trials and developments, like the atanercept that targets TNF, the various drugs that target beta-amyloid and the PBT2 which “prevents synaptic loss”. That’s all nice and all, but none of these will see the light of day in the next year or two. The good news with methylene blue is that it already exists on the market under the generic name of Urolene Blue.

Now, here’s the thing: I would like to start self-medicating with Urolene Blue because the side effects seem very small, though having the eyeballs change colour to blue-ish isn’t what I would call a great aid in image. However, my mind is way more important to me than is my looks, and I have to do something to stop my decline.

So my question is: what do you suggest I do to get Urolene Blue? Note that I live in Europe, and I believe this drug is not present here. If anyone here is from Europe and can prove me wrong, please do and I will be very thankful.

Oh, and hello all – this is my first post 🙂