European interest shown in new vCJD 'cure'
Following the news that a UK citizen who had been diagnosed with vCJD (variant Creuzfeldt-Jakob disease) is responding well to a new treatment in a US school of medicine, the UK government has said that it may fund research into a new drug which could treat vCJD victims. Rachel Forber, a 20 year old former soldier, was told that she had less than a year to live in June, after being diagnosed with vCJD. She went on to lose her mobility and failed to recognise even her parents. But following the treatment at the San Francisco school of medicine, Ms Forber is now able to walk and has managed to remaster simple tasks, such as holding a knife and fork. The treatment that has been administered to Ms Forber came from two drugs which are usually prescribed for malaria and psychotic illness. It was discovered that the effect they had on vCJD victims was to block the protein changes that are part of the illness. Following tests on mice, which showed positive results, the drugs were given to Ms Forber, who has also responded well following 19 days of treatment. A UK department of health official said yesterday that the UK government had been in contact with the researchers who have led the treatment in the USA and, although there were ethical and technical questions to be resolved, that the government was 'determined to develop both a diagnostic test and a treatment for variant CJD.' He also mentioned that this may mean funding for research into a new treatment based on the findings in the USA. A note of caution was also sounded yesterday though, in that it was stressed that there had not yet been an irrefutable confirmation that Ms Forber's condition was in fact vCJD and also it was recognised that this treatment may not necessarily work on other patients.