A new experimental drug shows that it is reversing Alzheimer's disease by preventing inflammation nd removing abnormal protein clumps in the human's brain. The study showed that the new experimental therapy restored memory in parts of a brain which had been ravaged by a dementia-like illness. Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning.
Researchers said that the study "shows promise" by targeting the cause, symptoms and manifestations by removing toxic proteins that clump together and trigger the devastating illness. According to Mail Online, there are an estimated 850,000 people who sufferers Alzheimer's disease in the UK, with the figure set to rise to a million by 2025.
The scientists at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio are striving to stop the growing number of people with Alzheimer's through a new experimental medicine called NTRX-07. By controlling the brain's swelling and preventing neuron damage, the medicine will hopefully "target the cause of the disease, not just the symptoms." They also believe that the new experimental drug will remove the abnormal protein clumps and tangles in the brain that trigger the illness.
"NTRX-07 uses a different mechanism than many other Alzheimer's drugs currently available, as it targets the cause of the disease, not just the symptoms," said Professor Mohamed Naguib, of the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio.
When the medicine was tested on mice with similar neurodegenerative issues as seen in Alzheimer's, it helped not only restore memory but cognitive ability as well. This gives huge hope to those already affected by the disease.
They found inflammation produced in response to the disease caused changes in the brain's microglia cells - immune cells that typically remove the dangerous amyloid plaques. Clinical trials on patients with Alzheimer's with this new experimental drug will begin in 2017.
