Is CBD genetic? CBD almost never runs in families and is not considered a genetic disease. A variant in the gene on chromosome 17 that encodes the tau protein is a little more common in CBD than in the rest of the population. We don’ t yet know how that version of the tau gene actually affects brain cells. It may increase the amount of tau protein produced or it may change the chemical properties of the protein. Slight variations in six other genes have also been found to be present at greater frequency in those with CBD than in others, and we have only vague ideas about how they may contribute to the cause of CBD. It is important to understand that each of these six gene variants is only very slightly more common in people with CBD than in other people and, even when their effects are totaled, do not explain the cause of CBD. Research being done on these gene variants could pinpoint just what is going wrong in CBD, even in people without any of those mutations. Then drugs could be found or designed to address that specific brain molecule or function.
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What research is being done to better understand and treat CBD, and how do I get involved in research? Due to the rarity of CBD and the difficulty with diagnosing it accurately, drug trials in CBD are not common. To properly test a drug and understand its impact, patients need to be recruited from a number of sites. The fact that only about half of the patients who have the outward corticobasal syndrome actually have corticobasal degeneration, means that the results of a drug trial can be difficult to interpret. Some drug companies and researchers have discovered a new way to get around the problem of recruiting a pure CBD trial patient group. When testing a drug that acts on the tau protein, they recruit patients with any tau-related disease and don’ t worry about exactly which one they have. To avoid enrolling patients with Alzheimer’ s disease brain changes as the cause of CBS, such trials screen candidates using a type of brain PET scan that detects the beta-amyloid of Alzheimer’ s. This approach, where one treatment is tested in a group of diseases sharing that drug’ s“ target”( in this case, tau aggregates), is called a“ basket trial” and has been used successfully for years by cancer researchers working with rare conditions.
As far as we can tell at this point, because of the similarities between PSP and CBD, when medications for treating, preventing or curing PSP are created, they will likely be beneficial for people with CBD. So, it’ s a good idea for those with CBD to keep an eye on new developments in PSP.
When there are opportunities to participate in research for CBD, many people with CBD find that this is a meaningful way to help doctors and scientists understand and treat CBD and related diseases. In the United States, clinical trials are listed on a website maintained by the National Institutes of Health, www. clinicaltrials. gov. You can enter“ corticobasal degeneration” or“ corticobasal syndrome” into the search box. You can also visit