[Earw0rm]

Would it be fair to say that it's causal in terms of process, but perhaps not in terms of initiation?

That is, there's a feedback loop involved (or, likely, a complex web of feedback processes), and if a drug can effectively suppress one of the steps, it will slow the whole juggernaut down to some extent?

Am reminded a little of the processes that happen during/after TBI - initial injury leads to brain swelling leads to more damage in a vicious cycle. In some patients, suppressing the swelling results in a much better outcome, but in others, the initial injury, visible or not, has done too much damage and initiated a failure cascade in which treating the swelling alone won't make any difference to the end result.

[DavidSJ]

I’m not sure I understand the process vs. initiation distinction you’re asking about, but yes I do believe there are other targets besides amyloid itself which make sense even if the amyloid hypothesis is true. Anything in the causal chain before or after amyloid but prior to neurodegeneration is a sensible target.

[Earw0rm]

Sure, I was just talking about a step in a feedback loop or degenerative spiral rather than whatever initiates the feedback loop in the first place.