http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7525115.stm


"Trials of the drug, known as Rember, in 321 patients showed an 81% difference in rate of mental decline compared with those not taking the treatment. The Aberdeen University researchers said the drug targeted the build-up of a specific protein in the brain. "


"[...]over 50 weeks there was a seven-point difference on a scale used to measure severity of dementia. At 19 months there was no significant decline in mental function in patients taking the drug, the researchers said. Imaging data also suggests the drug may be having its biggest effect in the parts of the brain responsible for memory. The link between clumps or "tangles" of protein inside nerve cells in the brain and Alzheimer's disease was first made over 100 years ago. Later shown to be made up of a protein called Tau, the tangles build up inside cells involved in memory, destroying them in the process."


"'We have demonstrated for the first time that it may be possible to arrest the progression of this disease by targeting the tangles which are highly correlated with the disease,' he said."


"'This bodes well but we need more human trials to assess the treatment's possible side effects.'"

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How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter? --Woody Allen

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