In a therapeutic breakthrough, researchers in China have reported preliminary results of an experimental surgical procedure they say aims to address Alzheimer’s disease by manipulating the brain’s waste clearance systems.

The findings of this study, published in general psychiatryThe team detailed the results of what they describe as a “cervical shunting” operation performed on an Alzheimer’s patient, who was able to achieve what researchers called promising results.

According to the study, a surgery on neck lymphatics – Lymphatic Venous Anastomosis or LVA was performed and 42 clinical trials have been successful so far.

What is LVA?

LVA surgery was first performed on a 76-year-old man suffering from moderate Alzheimer’s and after that, his symptoms improved significantly. Furthermore, follow-up results two months after the surgery showed that the old man not only had a significant improvement in memory, but he could also communicate normally with others.

“We hypothesized that disruption of the lymphatic trunk and cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis might facilitate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid into the cranial glymphatic system, potentially accelerating the clearance of harmful beta-amyloid and tau proteins,” the researchers said. Guessed.

Brain scans taken before and after the procedure reportedly showed changes in protein accumulation and metabolism, although the significance and durability of these changes remains to be determined.

The study was conducted through a collaboration between Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The researchers said the patient met the stringent biological diagnostic criteria set by the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association. These criteria require evidence of both memory decline and biological markers of disease, confirmed through brain scans showing protein deposition.

LVA flushes out toxic proteins from the brain

The surgical team claims the procedure connects lymph vessels in the neck to nerves, theoretically creating a new pathway to help flush toxic proteins out of the brain.

According to their report, the patient has shown cognitive improvement five weeks after surgery, as measured through standard tests:

• The Mini-Mental State Examination, which evaluates cognitive function, increased from 5 to 7 points.
• The Clinical Dementia Rating – the sum of boxes measuring the severity of dementia – has improved from 10 to 8.
• The Geriatric Depression Scale, which assesses depression in older adults, decreased from 9 to 0.

Is this a cure for Alzheimer’s?

Researchers say that they have not made any such claim because studies on this topic are still ongoing. Furthermore, to claim that a cure has been found, it is important to replicate such results on a broader population, and this is still far from happening. Even though this surgical approach represents a new direction in Alzheimer’s treatment research, it comes at a time of what experts describe as a new era in the field.

Currently, there are approximately 200 studies and 134 drugs in clinical trials, with more than 77 percent of new treatments targeting disease-modifying approaches.

Recent developments have shown promise in slowing cognitive decline. The drug donanemab, recently approved and marketed under the name Kisunla, has shown a 35 percent reduction in cognitive decline in clinical trials.

For patients who received the drug early in the disease progression, this figure reached 60 percent.

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