It’s unlikely a magic bullet will ever cure Alzheimer’s – maybe a magic shotgun can

For much of the 21st century, one theory has dominated research efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease: the amyloid hypothesis. Beta-amyloid is a protein that builds up in clumps, or plaques, in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and is linked to their cognitive decline.

But in recent years, despite the emergence of a couple of new drugs targeting these plaques, some scientists have begun to doubt the amyloid hypothesis. Don Weaver, a professor of chemistry at the University of Toronto in Canada, is one of them.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, Weaver tells us about shifts in the understanding of Alzheimer’s during his career of more than 30 years, and what theories are now emerging about what might cause the disease and how to treat it.

Weaver no longer believes there will be one magic bullet drug found to cure Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, he advocates for a magic shotgun approach that is likely to involve multiple ways of treating the problem, including starting much earlier in a person’s life.

Listen to our conversation with Donald Weaver on The Conversation Weekly podcast.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Katie Flood with production assistance from Mend Mariwany. It’s hosted by Gemma Ware, who is also the executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts.

Donald Weaver receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Krembil Foundation. He co-founded Neurochem Inc., and was an inventor of tramiprosate, one of the first drugs targeting beta-amyloid to enter human clinical trials. He co-founded and is currently the chief medical officer of Treventis Corp., a company focussed on developing small molecule therapeutics.