Posted on 04/02/2010 1:18:10 PM PDT by neverdem
Bacterial Product Isolated in Soil from Easter Island Rescues Learning, Memory in Alzheimer's Mouse Model
Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer's disease. The drug -- a bacterial product first isolated in soil from Easter Island -- rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported on Feb. 23.
The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer's-like deficits in an animal model, said the senior author, Salvatore Oddo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
Tissue evidence
Rapamycin also reduced lesions in the brains of the mice, the team found. The lesions are similar to those seen in the brains of people who died with Alzheimer's.
"Our findings may have a profound clinical implication," said Dr. Oddo, who is a member of the university's Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. "Because rapamycin is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, a clinical trial using it as an anti-Alzheimer's disease therapy could be started fairly quickly."
Last year three institutions, including the Barshop Institute, announced that rapamycin extended the life span of aged research mice at each of the sites. It was the first pharmacologic intervention shown to extend life in an animal model of aging...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Funny,very funny,but the disease is awful.
They don’t call it “The long goodbye” for nothing.
Well, the logical extension of this finding is that we ought to find a cure for breast cancer near an ancient statue of breasts.
Or come up with a combined molecule which would double as an antibiotic.
Or that...
Swamps cause fevers.
God put the cure to a disease near the cause.
Willows grow in swampy areas.
Willow bark treats fevers.
(I’d go further, and venture that the cure for breast cancer could be found near The Grand Tetons)...
Thanks for the ping!
There is a safe, inexpensive treatment for Alzheimer’s that should be getting major attention but since there is no money involved it gets ignored.
It’s niacinamide, a B-vitamin. It needs human trials to confirm but it looks very promising. It was given to mice who are bred to have alzheimer’s and in 4 months they were almost back to normal.
Talk about expensive healthcare, one of the reasons it’s so expensive is that there is no incentive to find solutions outside of medications and surgery for everything.
Bump.
Bump.
"Hey Stewart, lets go to Easter Island and gather up some bacteria and see what we can do with it......"
It runs in my family, and I have seen the effects take a vibrant intelligent person and turn them into a total stranger.....................
ping
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