New Potential Alzheimer’s Treatment Found

A team of scientists led by Professor Kiminobu Sugaya of the University of Central Florida may have found a new way to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

The scientists — including researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute — combined a technique for transplanting stem cells into rats and a newly discovered compound, phenserine, which reduces the amount of a plaque that’s a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers said the combination triggered the regeneration of neurons that are destroyed by Alzheimer’s and are necessary for healthy brain functions.

It’s very exciting, Sugaya said. If our success with mice can translate into the human brain, it could give hope to patients and their families.

The research findings were published in the July 24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.