Diabetes Drug May Restore Memory Loss In Alzheimer's Patients

Filed in archive Treatment on September 29, 2006

The link between diabetes and Alzheimer's is often in the news. Now, scientists believe that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes may in fact help reverse the effects of Alzheimer's.

A variant of a drug currently used to treat diabetes restored memory in rats with a mild form of Alzheimer's disease and eliminated one of the hallmarks of the disease, tau tangles in the brain, according to work by Brown University researcher Dr. Suzanne de la Monte. The drug, called a PPAR-delta Agonist, appears to help the brain overcome the loss of insulin, which may be a contributor to Alzheimer's disease.

Of course, this suggests that the better your diabetes symptoms, the better defense you'll have against Alzheimer's.

(Photo Source: CPMC)