In what is being hailed as good news for people with Alzheimer’s, American researchers have determined that a drug now approved to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease strengthens connections between brain cells and can be useful in reversing or even preventing dementia-related memory loss and judgment problems.
The findings, by scientists at the Rockefeller University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, suggest the drug riluzolem might be an effective way to prevent dementia. In studies involving rats, the researchers found they could stop memory loss with riluzole, which appears to prompt changes that improve connections and communication between brain cells,
Science Daily reports.
"By examining the neurological changes that occurred after riluzole treatment, we discovered one way in which the brain's ability to reorganize itself — its neuroplasticity — can be marshaled to protect it against some of the deterioration that can accompany old age, at least in rodents," said Bruce McEwen, who helped lead the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Riluzole is now used to slow the progress of another neurodegenerative condition, ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Researchers are now conducting a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of riluzole for patients with mild Alzheimer's.
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