Alzheimer's disease in mice.

[mthteach]

It is very exciting that they have found a cure for Alzheimer's disease in mice. Maybe this will be a link for PSP disease.

[Hidden]

Hi mthteach

This research (mainly done in Australia) is not a cure for Alzheimer's disease in mice or humans. It is one step in trying to remove beta amyloid plaque that is partly responsible for memory loss in the disease. The researchers are not claiming it is a cure. Alzheimer's has two proteins that appear to be culprits in the disease development, one is beta amyloid and the other is tau. The ultrasound method described activates microglia (the cells in the brain that are the immune defense system) and then this starts a process that seems to rid the brain of some of the beta amyloid plaque in the mice that cause memory loss. It improves the cognitive activity of the mice,

Trials in humans will be over 2 years away, and the researchers admit the human brain is a lot more complex than the mouse model, and they may not have the same success. One reason being that the damage that causes Alzheimer's starts some 10-20 years before symptoms. By the time symptoms occur, the disease is "set in". This research does not seem to address the other problem of tau protein, but I may be mistaken.

All the best

T

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

A good link to Google for a balanced approach to this research is " Ultrasound "breakthrough" in treating Alzheimer's - in mice"

This is an NHS choices article

T.

[Tjayoo]

Thanks I had not seen that before.

telegraph.co.uk/news/scienc...