What follows is a first-hand account from one of my Paradigm Press colleagues (who wishes to remain anonymous)... 

“My 78-year-old aunt couldn’t remember my name on Sunday. 

“She searched my face. My name was on the tip of her tongue. 

“But she couldn’t remember, even though I could tell she was racking her brain. 

“Her brain: that’s the topic of a conversation I had later with my Mom (who is my aunt’s primary caregiver).

“We’d noticed my aunt’s memory slipping for about a year. 

“But, like so many things in life, her memory loss seemed to happen ‘slowly, and then all at once.’ 

“Just part of the aging process, we wondered? Maybe dementia? 

“Could it be Alzheimer’s?

“Although doctors did some preliminary testing earlier this month, specialists want to do a full workup — which will require a four-day hospital stay for my aunt. 

“My Mom doesn’t have the heart to break it to her yet.” 

As you can gather, we’re discussing a sensitive subject today. 

It might even hit close to home, but keep reading… I think hope is on the horizon

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Your Rundown for Wednesday, February 28, 2024...

Letting AI Loose on Alzheimer’s 

My colleague’s experience, regrettably, isn’t unique… 

• Seven million American seniors are living with Alzheimer’s disease today — that’s roughly the population of Houston, Texas. 

Meanwhile, the medical community has been fumbling in the dark since the disease was first discovered over 100 years ago. 

It’s about time “fresh eyes” search for causes and a cure. 

Last week, I told you about my own frustrating encounter with AI. And the stakes were pretty low. 

Low stakes… for low tech? 

It’s true, the AI iterations you and I toy with on the internet — large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude — they’re child’s play compared to more complex artificial intelligence.

Last week, for example, researchers at UC San Francisco announced they’ve designed an AI that can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s seven years before symptoms appear with 72% accuracy, using Random Forest (RF) models (nerd out here later). 

Plus, preliminary research from the University of Colorado shows promising results for the experimental cancer drug, Nutlin, when used ‘off-label’ for Alzheimer’s disease. 

Among other things, Nutlin inhibits a key protein called MDM2 which is necessary for a phenomenon called “synaptic pruning” wherein the brain eliminates nerve cells and synapses it no longer needs. 

It’s good, say, for the rapidly developing brain of an infant… but bad when the process is accelerated in the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient. 

Abnormal synaptic pruning is believed to cause cognitive impairment in the memory and emotion-regulating center of the brain, the hippocampus. 

So, block MDM2… Block synaptic pruning… Potentially, block the harmful effects of Alzheimer’s disease. 

“Still, it is possible that another chemical could inhibit MDM2 even more efficiently and with an even better safety profile,” says biotech writer Jonathan Schramm. 

“In finding new drugs and in innovation… progress in computation and AI will help us [make] new discoveries,” he advocates, “and speed up the pace of discovery.” 

Let’s hope so, for the sake of my colleague and her aunt, because the stakes really couldn’t be higher. 

Market Rundown for Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024

The S&P 500 is down 0.25% to 5,060. 

Oil is up 0.55%, slightly under $80 for a barrel of WTI. 

Gold is in the red at $2,042.60 per ounce. 

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has soared past $60,260! 

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