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Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: In 2015, a patient in hospice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was treated with ionizing radiation to her brain using repeated CT scans. Improvement in cognition, speech, movement, and appetite was observed. These improvements were so momentous that she was discharged from the hospice to a...

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Autores principales: Cuttler, Jerry M., Abdellah, Eslam, Goldberg, Yael, Al-Shamaa, Sarmad, Symons, Sean P., Black, Sandra E., Freedman, Morris
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: IOS Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8150498/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33646146
http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200620
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author Cuttler, Jerry M.
Abdellah, Eslam
Goldberg, Yael
Al-Shamaa, Sarmad
Symons, Sean P.
Black, Sandra E.
Freedman, Morris
author_facet Cuttler, Jerry M.
Abdellah, Eslam
Goldberg, Yael
Al-Shamaa, Sarmad
Symons, Sean P.
Black, Sandra E.
Freedman, Morris
author_sort Cuttler, Jerry M.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In 2015, a patient in hospice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was treated with ionizing radiation to her brain using repeated CT scans. Improvement in cognition, speech, movement, and appetite was observed. These improvements were so momentous that she was discharged from the hospice to a long-term care home. Based on this case, we conducted a pilot clinical trial to examine the effect of low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) in severe AD. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the previously reported benefits of LDIR in a single case with AD could be observed again in other cases with AD when the same treatments are given. METHODS: In this single-arm study, four patients were treated with three consecutive treatments of LDIR, each spaced two weeks apart. Qualitative changes in communication and behavior with close relatives were observed and recorded. Quantitative measures of cognition and behavior were administered pre and post LDIR treatments. RESULTS: Minor improvements on quantitative measures were noted in three of the four patients following treatment. However, the qualitative observations of cognition and behavior suggested remarkable improvements within days post-treatment, including greater overall alertness. One patient showed no change. CONCLUSION: LDIR may be a promising, albeit controversial therapy for AD. Trials of patients with less severe AD, double-blind and placebo-controlled, should be carried out to determine the benefits of LDIR. Quantitative measures are needed that are sensitive to the remarkable changes induced by LDIR, such as biological markers of oxidative stress that are associated with AD.
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spelling pubmed-81504982021-06-09 Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study Cuttler, Jerry M. Abdellah, Eslam Goldberg, Yael Al-Shamaa, Sarmad Symons, Sean P. Black, Sandra E. Freedman, Morris J Alzheimers Dis Research Article BACKGROUND: In 2015, a patient in hospice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was treated with ionizing radiation to her brain using repeated CT scans. Improvement in cognition, speech, movement, and appetite was observed. These improvements were so momentous that she was discharged from the hospice to a long-term care home. Based on this case, we conducted a pilot clinical trial to examine the effect of low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) in severe AD. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the previously reported benefits of LDIR in a single case with AD could be observed again in other cases with AD when the same treatments are given. METHODS: In this single-arm study, four patients were treated with three consecutive treatments of LDIR, each spaced two weeks apart. Qualitative changes in communication and behavior with close relatives were observed and recorded. Quantitative measures of cognition and behavior were administered pre and post LDIR treatments. RESULTS: Minor improvements on quantitative measures were noted in three of the four patients following treatment. However, the qualitative observations of cognition and behavior suggested remarkable improvements within days post-treatment, including greater overall alertness. One patient showed no change. CONCLUSION: LDIR may be a promising, albeit controversial therapy for AD. Trials of patients with less severe AD, double-blind and placebo-controlled, should be carried out to determine the benefits of LDIR. Quantitative measures are needed that are sensitive to the remarkable changes induced by LDIR, such as biological markers of oxidative stress that are associated with AD. IOS Press 2021-04-06 /pmc/articles/PMC8150498/ /pubmed/33646146 http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200620 Text en © 2021 – The authors. Published by IOS Press https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Cuttler, Jerry M.
Abdellah, Eslam
Goldberg, Yael
Al-Shamaa, Sarmad
Symons, Sean P.
Black, Sandra E.
Freedman, Morris
Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title_full Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title_fullStr Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title_full_unstemmed Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title_short Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study
title_sort low doses of ionizing radiation as a treatment for alzheimer’s disease: a pilot study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8150498/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33646146
http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200620
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