Alzheimers

Study aims to delay Alzheimer's onset
TEL AVIV, Israel , Israeli scientists working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease have determined a better way to penetrate the blood-brain barrier might be through the nose.

Scientists know plaque formation is what causes the onset of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Now Tel Aviv University researchers led by Professor Beka Solomon have found administering a harmless bacterial virus known as a "filamentous phage" through nasal passages allows it to enter the brain and lock onto plaques associated with Alzheimer's.

The idea of sending a treatment through the nasal passage was a logical one, said Solomon, since Alzheimer's plaques first appear in the olfactory bulb. That's why one of the early symptoms of the much-dreaded disease is loss of smell.

To test her hypothesis, Solomon and colleagues treated mice with the phage, and found the mice that had exhibited Alzheimer's symptoms regained their sense of smell and demonstrated memory improvement. After one year of treatment, they had 80 percent fewer plaques than untreated mice.

Solomon recently presented the findings in Canada during a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

found this to be an interesting article. I'm sure we all know of someone who has Alzheimer's. Hope you find it interesting, also.