Giving Compass' Take:

• Norman Paradis, writing for The Conversation, explains the factors contributing to the slow progress in finding a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. 

• How can donors fund research that is driving progress towards a cure? How can funders create more urgency around this issue?

• Read about what can be done to fight Alzheimer's. 

Biogen recently announced that it was abandoning its late stage drug for Alzheimer’s, aducanumab, causing investors to lose billions of dollars.

Not only have there been more than 200 failed trials for Alzheimer’s, it’s been clear for some time that researchers are likely decades away from being able to treat this dreaded disease. Which leads me to a prediction: There will be no effective therapy for Alzheimer’s disease in my lifetime.

When Occam’s razor – the principle that the simplest solution is often the best – is applied to this laundry list of possible causes, it leads to some profound implications. Either Alzheimer’s is not one disease, or many factors can contribute to triggering or promoting it. Some authorities have been trying to make such arguments for some time.

Either of these would be bad news, since we would need to develop multiple effective treatments, possibly in combination.

But here’s the thing – regardless of type, Alzheimer’s has a powerful age-related association. This is true even for patients with early-onset inherited form of Alzheimer’s.

Read the full article about no cure for Alzheimer's disease by Norman A. Paradis at The Conversation.