New treatment may reverse Alzheimer's disease
Researchers have created a new drug in the hopes of both preventing and reversing signs of Alzheimer's disease.
According to The Alzheimer's Association, nearly 5 million people in the United States are currently living with the disease. A majority of these patients are over 60 years old, and the disease is one of the leading causes of death in the States.
The disease creates inflammation in the brain, damaging the ability of the brain cells to function and thus causing memory loss.
However, scientists at the Cleveland Clinic in Chicago are striving to stop that with an 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," explained lead researcher Mohamed Naguib.
It will also remove the abnormal protein clumps and tangles in the brain that trigger the illness.
When the medicine was tested on mice with similar neurodegenerative issues, it helped not only restore memory, but cognitive ability as well. This gives hope to those already affected by the disease.
Clinical trials on patients with Alzheimer's will begin in 2017.
Scroll through to see notable people with the disease:
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