ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Samuel Cohen - Research scientist
Samuel Cohen researches Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Why you should listen
Samuel Cohen is a Research Fellow in Biophysical Chemistry at St. John's College and the Centre for Misfolding Diseases in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, from where he holds PhD, MSci, MA and BA degrees. Cohen has worked as a consultant in the London office of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he specialized in the healthcare, technology and media sectors. His scientific research focuses on neurodegenerative disorders. He is co-author of more than 20 scientific papers, book chapters and patents, and was recently a lead author on a widely-reported study in which researchers made a major breakthrough towards finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
More profile about the speaker
Samuel Cohen | Speaker | TED.com
TED@BCG London

Samuel Cohen: Alzheimer's is not normal aging — and we can cure it

Filmed:
2,376,932 views

More than 40 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and that number is expected to increase drastically in the coming years. But no real progress has been made in the fight against the disease since its classification more than 100 years ago. Scientist Samuel Cohen shares a new breakthrough in Alzheimer's research from his lab as well as a message of hope. "Alzheimer's is a disease," Cohen says, "and we can cure it."
- Research scientist
Samuel Cohen researches Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
In the year 1901,
0
800
1816
00:14
a woman called Auguste was taken
to a medical asylum in Frankfurt.
1
2640
3480
00:18
Auguste was delusional
2
6960
1536
00:20
and couldn't remember
even the most basic details of her life.
3
8520
3000
00:24
Her doctor was called Alois.
4
12280
2120
00:27
Alois didn't know how to help Auguste,
5
15840
2256
00:30
but he watched over her until,
sadly, she passed away in 1906.
6
18120
3520
00:34
After she died, Alois performed an autopsy
7
22520
2736
00:37
and found strange plaques
and tangles in Auguste's brain --
8
25280
3216
00:40
the likes of which he'd never seen before.
9
28520
2336
00:42
Now here's the even more striking thing.
10
30880
2160
00:46
If Auguste had instead been alive today,
11
34000
2960
00:49
we could offer her no more help
than Alois was able to 114 years ago.
12
37520
5760
00:56
Alois was Dr. Alois Alzheimer.
13
44080
3560
01:00
And Auguste Deter
14
48520
2136
01:02
was the first patient to be diagnosed with
what we now call Alzheimer's disease.
15
50680
4240
01:07
Since 1901, medicine has advanced greatly.
16
55680
2960
01:11
We've discovered antibiotics and vaccines
to protect us from infections,
17
59200
3936
01:15
many treatments for cancer,
antiretrovirals for HIV,
18
63160
3856
01:19
statins for heart disease and much more.
19
67040
2480
01:22
But we've made essentially no progress
at all in treating Alzheimer's disease.
20
70896
6865
01:30
I'm part of a team of scientists
21
78440
1536
01:32
who has been working to find
a cure for Alzheimer's for over a decade.
22
80000
3286
01:35
So I think about this all the time.
23
83800
2456
01:38
Alzheimer's now affects
40 million people worldwide.
24
86280
3600
01:42
But by 2050, it will affect
150 million people --
25
90360
5200
01:48
which, by the way,
will include many of you.
26
96360
3160
01:53
If you're hoping
to live to be 85 or older,
27
101040
3000
01:57
your chance of getting Alzheimer's
will be almost one in two.
28
105160
4680
02:03
In other words, odds are
you'll spend your golden years
29
111600
3216
02:06
either suffering from Alzheimer's
30
114840
2216
02:09
or helping to look after a friend
or loved one with Alzheimer's.
31
117080
4320
02:14
Already in the United States alone,
32
122480
1976
02:16
Alzheimer's care costs
200 billion dollars every year.
33
124480
4279
02:21
One out of every five
Medicare dollars get spent on Alzheimer's.
34
129919
4001
02:26
It is today the most expensive disease,
35
134680
3136
02:29
and costs are projected
to increase fivefold by 2050,
36
137840
3216
02:33
as the baby boomer generation ages.
37
141080
2160
02:36
It may surprise you that, put simply,
38
144000
3376
02:39
Alzheimer's is one of the biggest medical
and social challenges of our generation.
39
147400
4560
02:44
But we've done relatively
little to address it.
40
152760
2280
02:47
Today, of the top 10
causes of death worldwide,
41
155960
3520
02:51
Alzheimer's is the only one
we cannot prevent, cure or even slow down.
42
159880
6640
02:59
We understand less about the science
of Alzheimer's than other diseases
43
167800
3360
03:03
because we've invested less time
and money into researching it.
44
171520
3080
03:07
The US government
spends 10 times more every year
45
175240
4136
03:11
on cancer research than on Alzheimer's
46
179400
2976
03:14
despite the fact
that Alzheimer's costs us more
47
182400
3040
03:18
and causes a similar number
of deaths each year as cancer.
48
186120
4600
03:23
The lack of resources
stems from a more fundamental cause:
49
191880
3736
03:27
a lack of awareness.
50
195640
1360
03:30
Because here's what few people know
but everyone should:
51
198600
3400
03:35
Alzheimer's is a disease,
and we can cure it.
52
203360
4280
03:40
For most of the past 114 years,
53
208320
2536
03:42
everyone, including scientists, mistakenly
confused Alzheimer's with aging.
54
210880
5456
03:48
We thought that becoming senile
55
216360
1477
03:49
was a normal and inevitable
part of getting old.
56
217861
2239
03:53
But we only have to look at a picture
57
221000
2016
03:55
of a healthy aged brain compared
to the brain of an Alzheimer's patient
58
223040
3856
03:58
to see the real physical damage
caused by this disease.
59
226920
3040
04:02
As well as triggering severe loss
of memory and mental abilities,
60
230960
3856
04:06
the damage to the brain
caused by Alzheimer's
61
234840
2216
04:09
significantly reduces life expectancy
and is always fatal.
62
237080
4760
04:14
Remember Dr. Alzheimer
found strange plaques and tangles
63
242480
3056
04:17
in Auguste's brain a century ago.
64
245560
2000
04:20
For almost a century,
we didn't know much about these.
65
248280
3000
04:24
Today we know they're made
from protein molecules.
66
252240
2680
04:27
You can imagine a protein molecule
67
255640
1656
04:29
as a piece of paper that normally folds
into an elaborate piece of origami.
68
257320
4040
04:34
There are spots
on the paper that are sticky.
69
262160
2096
04:36
And when it folds correctly,
these sticky bits end up on the inside.
70
264600
4936
04:41
But sometimes things go wrong,
and some sticky bits are on the outside.
71
269560
4456
04:46
This causes the protein molecules
to stick to each other,
72
274040
3016
04:49
forming clumps that eventually become
large plaques and tangles.
73
277080
3680
04:53
That's what we see
in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
74
281680
2720
04:57
We've spent the past 10 years
at the University of Cambridge
75
285240
3096
05:00
trying to understand
how this malfunction works.
76
288360
2720
05:03
There are many steps, and identifying
which step to try to block is complex --
77
291800
4696
05:08
like defusing a bomb.
78
296520
1280
05:10
Cutting one wire might do nothing.
79
298600
2096
05:12
Cutting others might
make the bomb explore.
80
300720
2600
05:16
We have to find the right step to block,
81
304160
2176
05:18
and then create a drug that does it.
82
306360
2120
05:21
Until recently, we for the most part
83
309000
2056
05:23
have been cutting wires
and hoping for the best.
84
311080
2456
05:25
But now we've got together
a diverse group of people --
85
313560
2856
05:28
medics, biologists, geneticists, chemists,
physicists, engineers and mathematicians.
86
316440
5576
05:34
And together, we've managed
to identify a critical step in the process
87
322040
4216
05:38
and are now testing a new class of drugs
which would specifically block this step
88
326280
4216
05:42
and stop the disease.
89
330520
1520
05:44
Now let me show you
some of our latest results.
90
332360
2496
05:46
No one outside of our lab
has seen these yet.
91
334880
2656
05:49
Let's look at some videos of what happened
when we tested these new drugs in worms.
92
337560
4976
05:54
So these are healthy worms,
93
342560
1856
05:56
and you can see
they're moving around normally.
94
344440
2200
05:59
These worms, on the other hand,
95
347560
2440
06:02
have protein molecules
sticking together inside them --
96
350480
3096
06:05
like humans with Alzheimer's.
97
353600
1616
06:07
And you can see they're clearly sick.
98
355240
2296
06:09
But if we give our new drugs
to these worms at an early stage,
99
357560
4976
06:14
then we see that they're healthy,
and they live a normal lifespan.
100
362560
3680
06:19
This is just an initial positive result,
but research like this
101
367200
3656
06:22
shows us that Alzheimer's is a disease
that we can understand and we can cure.
102
370880
4736
06:27
After 114 years of waiting,
103
375640
2896
06:30
there's finally real hope
for what can be achieved
104
378560
2376
06:32
in the next 10 or 20 years.
105
380960
1720
06:36
But to grow that hope,
to finally beat Alzheimer's, we need help.
106
384040
4320
06:40
This isn't about scientists like me --
107
388920
1856
06:42
it's about you.
108
390800
1200
06:44
We need you to raise awareness
that Alzheimer's is a disease
109
392600
3576
06:48
and that if we try, we can beat it.
110
396200
2616
06:50
In the case of other diseases,
111
398840
1816
06:52
patients and their families
have led the charge for more research
112
400680
3136
06:55
and put pressure on governments,
the pharmaceutical industry,
113
403840
2936
06:58
scientists and regulators.
114
406800
2216
07:01
That was essential for advancing treatment
for HIV in the late 1980s.
115
409040
4856
07:05
Today, we see that same drive
to beat cancer.
116
413920
3680
07:10
But Alzheimer's patients are often
unable to speak up for themselves.
117
418320
4336
07:14
And their families, the hidden victims,
caring for their loved ones night and day,
118
422680
4736
07:19
are often too worn out
to go out and advocate for change.
119
427440
3040
07:23
So, it really is down to you.
120
431320
3080
07:27
Alzheimer's isn't,
for the most part, a genetic disease.
121
435720
3336
07:31
Everyone with a brain is at risk.
122
439080
2120
07:34
Today, there are 40 million
patients like Auguste,
123
442160
4496
07:38
who can't create the change
they need for themselves.
124
446680
2896
07:41
Help speak up for them,
125
449600
1560
07:44
and help demand a cure.
126
452080
2200
07:47
Thank you.
127
455346
1150
07:48
(Applause)
128
456520
3600

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Samuel Cohen - Research scientist
Samuel Cohen researches Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Why you should listen
Samuel Cohen is a Research Fellow in Biophysical Chemistry at St. John's College and the Centre for Misfolding Diseases in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, from where he holds PhD, MSci, MA and BA degrees. Cohen has worked as a consultant in the London office of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he specialized in the healthcare, technology and media sectors. His scientific research focuses on neurodegenerative disorders. He is co-author of more than 20 scientific papers, book chapters and patents, and was recently a lead author on a widely-reported study in which researchers made a major breakthrough towards finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
More profile about the speaker
Samuel Cohen | Speaker | TED.com