socialmedian: Commonly-Prescribed Drug Significantly Reduces Memory Loss from Alzheimers [Mad Neuroscience]

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Commonly-Prescribed Drug Significantly Reduces Memory Loss from Alzheimers [Mad Neuroscience]

Source: io9

Jul 02, 2009

Summary

A growth hormone frequently prescribed for cancer patients has been found to significantly reduce memory loss from Alzheimers disease. The drug, which stimulates the production of red blood cells, essentially washes plaques out of the brain.

Plaques are protein buildups (pictured) found in the brains of people suffering from age-related dementia, and are believed to be related to memory loss and other symptoms of Alzheimers. These can be signifcantly reduced if patients take drugs containing granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), a human hormone that stimulates stem cells in bone marrow to produce more red blood cells. Scientists at University of South Florida and James A. Haley Hospital discovered in tests on mice that the surge in new blood cells acts as a purging agent, washing through the brain and cleansing neurons "clogged" by protein buildup. There was ultimately a 32-40 percent reduction in this dementia-causing protein, known as beta amyloid, in the mouse brains.

A release from the University of South Florida reports:

The researchers showed t ...Read the full article

Comments (1)

Eemorningwood,

Jul 02, 2009

This is seriously great news. It means we can have stem cell treatments that don't involve injecting new stem cells into the body - you can just stimulate production in your already-existing stem cells. It also means that we may have figured out a way to help people grow new neurons - a golden ring of neuroscience - with an already-existing drug. Can't wait to see how the next round of tests come out in human subjects.