Inside STAT: How an Alzheimer’s ‘cabal’ thwarted progress toward a cure for decades

 (DOM SMITH/STAT)

You don’t ordinarily hear leading scientists describe a disease theory as a quasi-religious dogma being pushed by a “cabal,” but Alzheimer’s is no ordinary disease. Every amyloid-targeting drug has failed and there is still no cure or even a disease-slowing treatment — and more and more experts believe that the dominance of the 30-year-old “amyloid model” is partly to blame. But STAT’s Sharon Begley reports that scientists who had other ideas were regularly denied publication in top journals, speaking slots at important meetings, and funding. Working on the story, Sharon says, was “frustrating” because “scientists are still very reluctant to cross the amyloid-defending powers that be.” She also says it was “heartbreaking” to think of the progress we may have made against Alzheimer’s if “the amyloid model had not become an orthodoxy that researchers challenged at their peril.” STAT Plus subscribers can read more here.