Hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers

The memory loss Alzheimer’s sufferers experience can be reversible. At least, this is what a new study reports, carried out by researchers from Buffalo University in the USA.

Alzheimer’s causes the loss of glutamate receptors, which in turn leads to cognitive decline. Without going into too many details, we now know that this process is controlled by enzymes, and researchers have recently found that inhibiting these enzymes in laboratory mice has enabled their memories to be temporarily restored.

Professor Zhen Yan, biophysician at Buffalo University, reported that the improvement they observed in their mice’s cognitive function was stunning, and surprised the whole team. “The expression and function of glutamate were restored”, he confirmed.

This improvement may only have lasted a week, but it sparks hope for incredible advances in Alzheimer’s research.