TauRx helps Strictly star bust myths around online drug trend

Leading Scottish life sciences firm TauRx Therapeutics Management is to feature alongside acclaimed documentary maker and former Strictly Come Dancing winner Stacey Dooley to examine one of the latest viral wellness trends in Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley.

Professor Claude Wischik, TauRx Co-Founder and Chairman, and Medical Director Dr Sonya Miller travelled to Cambridge to film scenes for Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley, which sets to air on BBC One on Monday, as well as being available now on iPlayer.

Along with respected doctors and health content creators Dr Alex George and Dr Nighat Arif, Stacey examines several viral wellness trends taking over social media feeds.

One of those is methylene blue, an old synthetic dye with legitimate medical uses which some people claim, when self-administered, improves cognition, prevents ageing or treats neurological disease.

TauRx’s potential oral treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, which is currently undergoing review by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is related to methylene blue. Strictly 2018 winner Stacey gauged the expert opinions of Prof Wischik and Dr Miller on its suitability.

Prof Wischik, who first discovered the Alzheimer tangle was made up of tau proteins clumped together while a PhD student at Cambridge in 1988, said: “Documentaries like Clickbait Clinic are more important than ever, particularly when it comes to health. With so much misinformation out there, we should all be programmed to maintain a healthy level of scepticism. 

“Only after spending many years studying the effect of methylene blue, as well as undertaking rigorous lab tests and clinical trials under strict safety protocols, have we been able to see the impact it has on the brain.

“Through such work, we have established that while it plays a part in cognitive function temporarily, the effect in Alzheimer’s only happens with the new form of the drug. 

“The drug we have submitted to the MHRA has undergone stringent tests, and we believe the evidence available reinforces our belief it has the potential to offer an accessible oral treatment option which could be delivered safely and with minimal patient/physician burden.”

As well as interviewing Prof Wischik and Dr Miller, Stacey also visits a patient who was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2013.

Dr Miller added: “The documentary is extremely important in dispelling potentially dangerous online health myths. What people must realise is that you have medicines to treat the disease state of an illness and make you feel better – but if you are already well, taking the same medicine won’t necessarily improve your health further.

“As a physician, I would not encourage anyone to take medical health advice from social media. If people are concerned, the first port of call should always be their GP.”

As well as methylene blue, the series – which has been produced by Nutopia – also examines extreme leg-lengthening surgery, NAD+ drips and the carnivore diet to testosterone and dog deworming tablets that some believe can cure cancer.

Speaking when the programme was announced, Stacey said: “Social feeds are full of health and wellness tips, but it's impossible to know which ones to believe. I can't wait to find out what the experts think and to meet the people behind the biggest online health trends.”

Peer-reviewed publications report that TauRx’s drug targeting the tau protein – a key hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease – halted progression of neurodegeneration, and that participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) who received 16 mg/day experienced statistically significant cognitive improvement over 18 months.  

Participants also displayed no evidence of statistically significant cognitive or functional decline over a period of two years. Trials also confirmed the drug has a benign safety profile, with headache (1.5%) and diarrhoea (1.2%) reported as the most frequent adverse effects at the 16 mg/day dose. A decision on the company’s MHRA application is expected in the coming months.

The methylene blue episode of Clickbait Clinic With Stacey Dooley will air on Monday, October 19 at 8.30pm on BBC One and can be viewed on BBC iPlayer here.