A University of Alberta neurologist is hailing a research breakthrough he says represents a step towards treating Alzheimer's disease.
As detailed in a recent issue of Scientific Reports, Jack Jhamandas and his team performed a study on mice where they injected a string of amino acids into the animals. The treatment significantly improved the mice's memory and reduced some of the harmful physical changes in the brain associated with the condition.
"This was very interesting and exciting because it showed us that not only was memory being improved in the mice, but signs of brain pathology in Alzheimer’s disease were also greatly improved," Jhamandas said in a U of A release.
The team is looking to create an oral version of the drug so human clinical trials can begin.
"This has been 15, 20 years of painstaking and incremental work," he said. "And, it's like building a house: you put one brick down, then you put another brick on top of that, and pretty soon you have a foundation and then you have a house."
