Every week we scour the news for the latest headlines in Alzheimer’s stories, care, treatment, and prevention. Here are this week’s biggest stories for the week of July 2nd, 2012 – July 8th 2012.
Diabetes Drug Makes Brain Cells Grow
The widely used diabetes drug ‘Metformin’ comes with an unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain. The study also finds that those neural effects of the drug also make mice smarter. The discovery is an important step toward therapies that aim to repair the brain not by introducing new stem cells but rather by spurring those that are already present into action.
Discovery That Bees Can Reverse Their Own Brain Aging Has Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by younger bees. While current research on human age related dementia focuses on potential new drug treatments, researchers say these findings suggest that social interventions may be used to slow or treat age related dementia.
