Insulin against Alzheimer's?

Alzheimer's disease is proposed to be treated with insulinElvira Koshkina, Compulenta

It is possible to improve the memory of Alzheimer's sufferers in the early stages if you inject insulin into their nose. According to scientists from the University of Washington (USA), patients treated in this way for four months showed improved results in memory tests.

Alzheimer's disease is a fatal and incurable brain injury, the most common form of dementia; the disease affects 26 million people around the world.

Many studies have confirmed: people with Alzheimer's disease have reduced insulin levels in the brain, even if the disease has just begun to develop. Insulin plays an important role in the communication of brain cells and is necessary for the proper functioning of the brain.

A team of specialists led by Dr. Susan Kraft decided to find out what would happen to a person if insulin was delivered directly to the brain. 109 patients with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment who do not suffer from diabetes were recruited for the study. A third of the participants were given a placebo, and the rest received different doses of insulin, which were injected into their nose twice a day for four months by means of a nebulizer.

As it turned out, patients who received even the smallest doses of insulin showed a significant improvement in all indicators of thinking and memory, as well as progressed in tests for daily activities. In fifteen insulin-treated subjects who agreed to a spinal tap, the researchers found a link between memory and improved performance of key proteins related to Alzheimer's disease.

Of course, the introduction of the new technique is still very far away, but the above results are enough to start large-scale clinical trials.

The medications used today eliminate only the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Until now, there were no drugs that improve memory in such patients...

Prepared by Reuters: Sniffing insulin may help memory lost to Alzheimer's.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru19.07.2010