Study shows fragile X treatment can incur resistance, suggests ways around it mit.edu - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mit.edu Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Mark Bear, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, recalls the "eureka moment" 20 years ago when he realized that a severe developmental brain disorder -;fragile X syndrome-;might be treated with drugs that inhibit a neurotransmitter receptor called mGluR5.
Decades-long quest to beat Fragile X fueled by persistence, science and relentless optimism msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
An experimental drug intended for Alzheimer s patients seems to improve both language and learning in adults with Fragile X syndrome.
The drug, called BPN14770, increased cognitive scores by about 10% in 30 adult males after 12 weeks, a team reports in the journal
Nature Medicine.
That is enough to change the lives of many people with Fragile X, says Mark Gurney, CEO of Tetra Therapeutics, developer of the medicine. People with Fragile X with an IQ of 40 are typically living with their parents or in an institutional setting, Gurney says. With an IQ of 50, in some cases they re able to ride the bus, they re able to hold a job with some assistance and they re able to function better in their community.