Alzheimers' Mice Cognitive Function Restored

INTRODUCTION:

Are you an athlete? Have you ever been on a sports team in High School or College? Do you exercise? Almost everyone will say yes to any of these questions and if so many of us have at some time or another drank an energy drink to give us a boost. Recent research in mice have shown that these very energy drinks contain in them a compound that clears Beta Amyloid Plaques of early stages of Alzheimer's in the brain of mice that contain a build up of plaque.

The results of the preliminary tests show that when this compound was added to their drinking water, it cleared the amyloid beta plaques from the mice that were suffering with Alzheimer like symptoms subsequently restoring their cognitive function to normal. Although it is still very early in research, these results give hope in potentially stopping the progression of the disease and in the prevention of amyloid plaques accumulating in the brain which kill off brain cells (a process known as neuro-degeneration).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The definition of Alzheimer's Disease, (Thanks to Google Search Engine) is a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain. It is the most common cause of premature senility. It is a disease that destroys memory and other mental functions. This is the most common form of dementia in which symptoms develop at a very steady state,  becoming increasingly worse as time progresses, becoming so severe as to interfere with a suffers' daily tasks.

RESEARCH: 

EPPS, the chemical in energy drinks, was discovered by researchers in Korea. Their most recent study included adding EPPS to the water mice were drinking from and found that the mice improved in maze tests and the extinction of plaques in their brains. Much more research is needed to see if the compound (similar to taurine- an Amino Acid found in Red Bull and other energy drinks) is effective for humans not just mice. There also needs more work to be done so that there are more chemicals discovered which are similar to EPPS that have the potential of improving dementia in humans. The side effects this compound has on humans is also unknown although none of the mice experienced any bad side effects.

CONCLUSION:

Patients who suffer from Alzheimer's have plaques that have built up over a decade or more causing serious damage and other mental impairments. Teams of researchers everywhere have tried to discover drugs that remove the amyloid plaques. One recent approach has been to design antibodies that bind to these plaques which then break them down.

 

This study has found a new chemical that could help to clear some forms of amyloid, the toxic protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. However, so far this has only been shown in mice, which do not fully replicate several of the important changes that we see in the brains and behaviors of people with dementia. Further expanding our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease all the time, and there are already a number of drugs in clinical testing that are targeted against amyloid. We hope that new findings will one day translate into real treatments for people living with dementia.

 

LINKS:
(A)http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/dec/08/taurine-like-chemical-restores-cognitive-function-in-mice-with-alzheimers
(B)https://www.google.com/search?site=&source=hp&q=what+is+alzheimer%27s+disease&oq=what+is+alzheimer%27s+disease&gs_l=hp.3..0l10.578.9404.0.9489.28.21.0.0.0.0.758.4062.2-3j4j1j1j1.10.0....0...1.1.64.hp..18.10.4058.0.-K_nF7itJaI
(C)http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp
(D)https://animationscreencaps.com/cinderella-2015/

*These are not my images! They were found on various Tumblr sites~if any are yours please let me know so I can give you credit! Thanks so much~Enjoy~