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Eye surgeon David A. Newsome, MD, former clinical professor ofophthalmology at Tulane University School of Medicine and chief of retinaldisease at the NIH, will introduce the nation's first copper-free vitaminsupplement for the estimated 10 million Americans suffering progressive dryage-related macular degeneration. A key non-ingredient is copper, which isincreasingly associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease in agingAmericans. Dr. Newsome will speak in his capacity as the inventor of this newline of copper-free supplements, called Eye Daily www.eyedaily.com, and aschief scientific officer of publically-traded Pipex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PP)www.pipexinc.com, producers of Eye Daily.
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About Dr. David A. Newsome
Dr. David A. Newsome completed the first scientifically valid study thatshowed that appropriate nutritional supplementation would slow eyesight lossin persons with age-related eye disease. He attended Duke University andearned his M.D. at Columbia University in New York. After working inWashington, D.C. at the National Institutes of Health, he moved to Boston fora residency and fellowship at Harvard. Upon his return to Washington, Dr.Newsome became head of the Retinal Disease Section of the National EyeInstitute, National Institutes of Health. From 1982 to 1985 he worked forJohns Hopkins Medical School, and in 1985 was hired as professor ofophthalmology with LSU Medical Center in New Orleans. Three years later, hebecame a clinical professor of ophthalmology at Tulane University School ofMedicine, a position he held until 1995. Currently he is the president of theRetinal Institute of Louisiana, located in New Orleans. In addition to hisaccomplishments as an eye surgeon and research scientist in the field ofnutrition and diseases of the eye, Dr. Newsome founded Meals on Wheels, NewOrleans Fund, and Eye Care Haiti. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewedscientific publications and he has lectured extensively.
"I wake up every morning and realize how happy I am to be a NewOrleanian." --Dr. David A. Newsome
Clinical Correlation of Copper and Alzheimer's Disease
Over the last several years, an increasing body of evidence points todysfunctional copper homeostasis in the pathogenesis of AD. Most recently, apublished observational six-year study in 3,718 patients over the age of 65,concluded that subjects that consumed a typical amount of a copper supplement(1.6mg of copper a day) when taken together with a high saturated and transfat diet results in an equivalent of 19 years of mental decline (p < 0.001)(1).
In a separate European clinical study conducted in 53 patients, correlatedthe levels of the highly reactive "free copper" (also known as copper notbound to protein) pool in serum to disease severity in AD patients versusaged-matched control patients. These results demonstrated that the "freecopper" serum pool was highly increased in AD patients (2).
These clinical studies are complemented by preclinical studies that showthat AD amyloid-(Beta) plaques when treated with copper chelating agents invitro loosen and reverse fibril formation as determined by spectroscopy.
