671. Why Has There Been So Little Progress on Alzheimer’s Disease?

Decades of Alzheimer's research have been undermined by a potentially fraudulent foundational study that promoted the amyloid hypothesis as the dominant explanation for the disease, while billions in funding failed to yield effective treatments. Investigative reporting reveals manipulated data in key papers, which may have misled the scientific community for years. Emerging evidence suggests environmental factors like pollution, diet, and socioeconomic inequality play a significant but underexplored role in Alzheimer's onset and progression.

It exposes how scientific fraud may have derailed decades of Alzheimer's research and funding, while highlighting overlooked environmental and social drivers of the disease.

1. 01A 2006 study claiming a link between cholesterol, amyloid plaques, and brain damage in rabbits—used to support the amyloid hypothesis—may be based on manipulated images, raising doubts about a cornerstone of Alzheimer's research.
2. 02The amyloid hypothesis has dominated Alzheimer's drug development for decades, yet every amyloid-targeting drug has failed to stop or reverse cognitive decline, suggesting a fundamental flaw in the theory.
3. 03Environmental and social factors like air pollution, obesity, and low educational attainment correlate with higher Alzheimer's risk, pointing to a broader set of causes beyond genetics and amyloid buildup.