Posted on 03/18/2025 4:16:57 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
The herb rosemary has long been linked with memory. So it is fitting that researchers would study a compound found in rosemary and sage—carnosic acid—for its impact on Alzheimer's disease.
Carnosic acid is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound that works by activating enzymes that make up the body's natural defense system. Scientists have now synthesized a stable form, diAcCA. This compound is fully converted to carnosic acid in the gut before being absorbed into the bloodstream.
The research showed that when diAcCA was used to treat mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, it achieved therapeutic doses of carnosic acid in the brain and led to enhanced memory and synaptic density, or more synapses in the brain. Because the decline of neuronal synapses is also closely correlated to dementia in Alzheimer's disease, this approach could counteract the progression of cognitive decline.
Analysis of tissue samples showed the drug also markedly decreased inflammation in the brain. This unique drug is activated by the very inflammation that it then combats and thus is only active in areas of the brain undergoing inflammatory damage.
"We actually increased the number of synapses in the brain," says Stuart Lipton, MD, Ph.D. "We also took down other misfolded or aggregated proteins such as phosphorylated-tau and amyloid-β, which are thought to trigger Alzheimer's disease and serve as biomarkers of the disease process."
Lipton's group treated mouse models with the compound over the course of three months.
"We did multiple different tests of memory, and they were all improved with the drug," Lipton says. "And it didn't just slow down the decline; it improved virtually back to normal." Analysis of tissues also showed increased neuronal synaptic density and decreased formation of phosphorylated-tau aggregates and amyloid-β plaques.
The mice tolerated diAcCA well.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It appears to help target inappropriate inflammation in the brain. This new compound that acts as a precursor is not yet available.
Hmmm. Should I be snacking on rosemary?
Ophelia; Hamlet. Wm Shakespeare
I have thought that Alzheimer’s was caused by a prion, similar to the prion that causes mad cow.
Hummm…. I think I see potential for a song there!
Ooooo ..... I make a hair growing potion I apply to my head a few times a week. Rosemary oil is prominent. Maybe it soaks in past my thick skull :) ...
(no really, i’m wondering) (it works pretty well to grow my hair, and has worked on hub’s beard, too).
“Rosemary? Sage? What about parsley and thyme? “
Beat me to it. And I use parsley every day, might as well add rosemary. Sage is just for a few things. Guess I can’t go to the fair.
Maybe this is the mechanism by which these extracts work ... they’re used as food preservatives....
Lipid Peroxidation Inhibition: These extracts can also inhibit lipid peroxidation, a process that leads to rancidity and deterioration of fats.
Try it on Joe first.
Great to know! Thank you. I have some rosemary capsules; I do not like rosemary, but I will begin taking them today. My mother died from Alzheimer’s and I’ve been having memory problems for the past several months.
Holy sh*t! How did he know?
Queen Elizabeth's funeral bouquet had lots of 'Rosemary for Remembrance' in it, as well as flower cuttings from plants previously grown from her very own Wedding Bouquet. I thought that was so cool!
https://www.etonline.com/media/videos/queen-elizabeths-funeral-bouquet-featured-flowers-from-her-wedding-source-191094
That is so incredibly beautiful…both the bouquet and the thought put into it. Thanks for that!
Sure is, but how many times a year do you stuff a turkey? Or even a chicken?
Never liked to cook and the older I get, the less inclined I am to cook actual “recipes”.
I was obviously impressed to remember that little factoid. :)
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