It Actually Works?
It Actually Works?
"A dementia treatment?"
Kim Jae-ho, a doctor at Korea University Hospital, said. A startup called Jaeseong Bio said they wanted to attempt clinical trials for a dementia treatment.
They were renting hospital beds for the clinical trials. Kim Jae-ho looked over the documents regarding the clinical trials that the nurse had brought. They were the results of clinical trials conducted on animals.
Looking only at the documents, this was a perfect dementia treatment. It stated that it could achieve a complete cure regardless of the stage of the dementia's progression. It was written that even early-stage or late-stage dementia could be completely cured if this drug was administered.
However, clinical trials done on animals always had good results. Isn't there a common joke that mice can cure hair loss, cure cancer, and are animals that live forever?
Kim Jae-ho made a sour expression when he saw these results. Judging by the medical knowledge he possessed, Korea did not have the capability to create a dementia treatment.
That was because, frankly, Korea was behind in new drug development. Korea was not a country where the pharmaceutical industry was that developed. On top of that, a dementia treatment!
Dementia was one of the most difficult diseases to cure. First of all, the affected area was the human brain. The brain was an organ with many parts that had yet to be discovered. Furthermore, the brain had a blood-brain barrier, so drugs did not pass through well.
A dementia treatment that showed this level of data... Even if a famous overseas pharmaceutical company had made it, people would treat it as a scam, so it was impossible not to be suspicious when an unknown small-to-medium-sized enterprise claimed to have made it.
He even wondered if they were acting like this to embezzle taxes from a government-run project.
"Well, I guess I have to proceed."
There was no reason to refuse. They had paid enough for the clinical trials to proceed. The hospital was a place to treat patients, but it was also a place to make money.
If... if it was really true that they had developed a dementia treatment, it would be a huge event worthy of front-page news.
There were nearly 1 million dementia patients in Korea. If you counted the personnel nursing those dementia patients, millions of people would be liberated from this disease.
Naturally, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was a sure thing. If someone developed a treatment for dementia and didn't receive a Nobel Prize, that would be even stranger.
And so, Korea University Hospital finished preparations for the clinical trial of the dementia treatment from the unknown small-to-medium-sized enterprise.
The subjects were patients who had already reached the late stages of dementia and were facing death. For the sake of the clinical trial, it didn't matter if the drug was unfinished.
They were going to die as time passed anyway. It was better to struggle by taking the medicine. Just waiting for time to pass by doing nothing wouldn't solve anything.
-------------------------------------
Beep, beep.
Ten dementia patients were gathered.
"Ughhhhh...!"
"Waaaaah, I hate it!!! I want to go home!"
"..."
Perhaps because late-stage dementia patients were gathered, it was hell on earth. A grandmother drooling blankly was on the mild side. There was also a grandfather who was pooping in his pants and going crazy.
If a newborn had acted like this, it would have felt cute instead. Because that's what babies were.
However, since grandfathers and grandmothers were acting like that, there was no answer. It wasn't cute, and it was difficult to handle.
A baby could be swaddled and left alone, and everything would be solved, but elderly people with dementia walked around on their two legs and rummaged through everything.
"Ugh..."
Shin Ye-ji couldn't help but be horrified at this sight. There was someone worse than Shin Ye-ji's mother. They would poop and then bring it to their mouth to eat it.
"Hello."
Just then, an employee from Jaeseong Bio came out to conduct the clinical trial. She was a young woman who had looks that would make you believe she was a celebrity. The young woman looked at the guardians who had brought the patients and said.
"Thank you for participating in the Jaeseong Bio clinical trial. We will begin testing starting today. Since you have already heard the details beforehand, to summarize briefly..."
They had already heard everything before entering the clinical trial test. So, the woman summarized it briefly.
She said the effects of the drug would be seen quickly. They would start administration today, and the trial was scheduled to last for a total of one month.
The people around her looked at the woman with eyes full of expectation. If it really had an effect...!
Moreover, although they didn't say it, one of the clinical trial participants was even thinking of committing suicide. If the clinical trial ended in failure, they planned to kill their parent and then commit suicide themselves.
Caregiver suicide was a problem that had become an issue in modern society.
And so, the clinical trial conducted by Jaeseong Bio began.
-------------------------------------------
On the first day, the drug was administered to the dementia patients. There was no particular reaction. The patients' guardians also didn't expect them to get better right on the first day.
The doctors and nurses helping with the clinical trial didn't have much expectation either. If the guardians heard this, they would grab them by the collar and curse at them in anger, but Kim Jae-ho didn't even have 1% expectation that the dementia would get better.
If a dementia treatment were easy enough to be developed by such a small pharmaceutical company, a dementia treatment would have already been out in the world.
"Mom..."
The guardians were holding the hands of their moms and dads, who were once their parents. Because they were parents who were dignified anywhere until they got dementia.
Shin Ye-ji was the same. She didn't even wish for the dementia to be cured. She just hoped that her mom would regain consciousness, even just a little bit.
And so, the one week suggested by the Jaeseong Bio side passed. That was because, according to the documents there, the drug's effect would appear one week after administration.
"Ugh... ughhh..."
Shin Ye-ji opened her eyes. It was because she felt like her mom was calling her name. It seemed like it was definitely having an effect.
The atmosphere was much calmer than the first day they gathered for the clinical trial.
Even the doctor who came to check their condition every day was wide-eyed. Just having the progression of dementia alleviated would be a fact worthy of front-page news, but now, it wasn't just being alleviated—they were actually getting better!
In the eyes of the guardians who participated in the clinical trial without expectation, a light of hope appeared. Hope that dementia could really become a treatable disease!
More time passed. Two weeks had passed since the clinical trial began.
"Ye... Ye-ji..."
Shin Ye-ji was napping while curled up. She heard her mom's voice, which she thought she would never hear again. Shin Ye-ji jumped up. Then, she headed to her mom's side.
"Mo... Mom! What did you just say? Say it again!"
"Ye-ji..."
Her mom was clearly calling her name in a distinct voice. Ye-ji's face brightened. Since a year ago, her mom hadn't been able to communicate properly, let alone say her name. But now, she wasn't showing any of that behavior.
"Oh my! Did you really call her name?"
"No...! Is it for real?"
The guardians around them couldn't hide their shock. Shin Ye-ji felt her heart about to burst and called for the doctor and nurse.
Then, she gestured with her hands and feet and said.
"Mom... Mom called my name!"
"Ye... Ye-ji, where is this..."
It was a voice containing consciousness. It wasn't the voice of a dementia patient who just howled like a beast. The doctor and nurse also checked the patient's condition with surprised expressions.
"No...! It really improved this much...?"
"This is... is this for real?"
The doctors and nurses also witnessed that a miracle had occurred.
And so, three weeks had passed since the clinical trial began.
"Ye-ji. You've had a hard time."
"Mom..."
The dementia patients who were already in their hospital beds had regained their reason enough to communicate. Ye-ji was shedding tears. It was because she didn't know she would be able to talk with her mom like this again.
A company that she hadn't expected anything from had really developed a dementia treatment.
"Mom made Ye-ji suffer a lot, didn't she? I'm sorry..."
"It's not Mom's fault... everyone gets like that when they get dementia..."
"Let's hug, my daughter."
"Mommmm!"
It might have looked a bit much for a grown adult to be crying in her mom's arms, but it didn't matter.
Because everyone in the hospital room here was acting like that. Everyone was shedding tears like children after seeing their parents regain their sanity.
It was a completely different scene from when they were first admitted to the hospital room. All 10 dementia patients had been cured. It was a treatment effect that exceeded the expectations from when they first entered.
Now, it was to the point where it felt sorry to call them dementia patients. It wouldn't matter if you just called them normal people.
Korea University Hospital, which recorded these results without omission, was turned upside down. Because a dementia treatment had really been developed!