Another option for Tau: Methylene Blue

[wjw...@hotmail.com]

Another option for targetting the tau protien corruption is methylene
blue. Read this post from the Alz.org forum:
"I tried METHYLENE BLUE on my mom for the past 1 week. I observed a
significant improvement in alertness and mood. she sleeps a lot less
than before. I did MMSE on her today, she scored 22, she drew the
clock
faster and almost perfectly. she is more pleasant and loving. her
panic
attacks are milder and less frequent. I am very excited about this
drug, i believe it offers more hope and relief than enbrel. I never
felt comfortable enough to try enbrel on mom. I believe that methylene
blue is a lot less invasive and risky treatment. In the study by Tau
therapeutic it was shown to be 2 and 1/2 times more effective than
Aricept.
are you willing to give it a chance?, actmd"
[Note: The author, "act" says in another post that he is an internal
medicine doctor, which explains how he so easily obtained the
methylene
blue for his mother.]
http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/762104261/m/4081064272?
r=5831030813#5831030813

[wjw...@hotmail.com]

More info on methylene blue

"Potential Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Cure Found In Century-old Drug"
ScienceDaily (Aug. 18, 2008)
"A new study conducted by researchers at Children's Hospital &
Research Center Oakland shows that a century-old drug, methylene
blue, may be able to slow or even cure Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
disease. Used at a very low concentration – about the equivalent of a
few raindrops in four Olympic-sized swimming pools of water – the
drug slows cellular aging and enhances mitochondrial function,
potentially allowing those with the diseases to live longer,
healthier lives."

"Methylene blue, first discovered in 1891, is now used to treat
methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder. But because high concentrations
of methylene blue were known to damage the brain, no one thought to
experiment with low concentrations. Also, drugs such as methylene
blue do not easily reach the brain."

Here is the link to the full article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080818101335.htm

No mention in the full article of its possible effect on tau, which,
given the close connection between Rember and methylene blue, is
interesting.

[wjw...@hotmail.com]

Given this new piece of information, and the other article in the
Rember thread, I checked into the availability of methylene blue.

"Methylene blue has been around forever, used for urinary tract
infections, malaria, and all sorts of things, up to treating protozoal
infections in fish tanks. (For that matter, it's turned up over the
years as a surreptitious additive to blueberry pies and the like,
turning the unsuspecting consumer's urine greenish/blue, generally to
their great alarm: a storied med school prank from the old days)."
http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2008/07/31/rember_for_alzheimers_methylene_\
blues_comeback.php

Sure enough, methylene blue is available from pet supply stores. Here
is an example:
http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=64000052&EID=SZ64000052&SID=SHZI\
L

I don't know if I would try this or not. It doesn't seem to hurt
fish. But according to that other article from Science Daily on
August 18, it is "used at a very low concentration – about the

equivalent of a few raindrops in four Olympic-sized swimming pools of

water".

[Roger Story]

Methylene blue is both readily available, has passed through a large (321 participants), double blind, placebo controlled Phase II trial and is now in a Phase III trial as the product LMTX from a company called TauRx.  The phase II trial was of a very similar product that they called Rember.  Dosage in the phase II trial was at 0 (a placebo), .06 g 3x a day and at .1 g 3x per day.  Apparently, one of the lessons learned in the phase II trial was that packaging matters as well as other details.  The 60 mg (.06 g) dosage was quite successful on Alzheimers but the 100 mg (0.1 g) dose was not!  This was attributed to a packaging error that allowed Rember (MB chloride) to react with the shell of the capsule in the 100 mg case.  This delayed release of the MB until after it had left the highly reducing environment of the stomach.  Apparently, MB chloride must be reduced in the stomach to be effective.  Also, it doesn't do well with food and it can cause stomach upsets if the stomach is empty.  Supposedly, LMTX fixes most of these problems.

While MB was tested mainly on Alzheimer's patients in the 2008 phase II study, it works on tau proteins, not amyloid.  Myself, I have PSP rather than Alzheimers.  I've been taking 100 mg of MB chloride since March of 2013 and feel it's at least stopped the disease and that I in fact have regained some functions.  I get my MB on-line from IBI Scientific, but given my apparent success with it, my own Dr. has offered to write an off-label use Rx for me.