Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects 5.4 million Americans. Scientists are working on a study in which they are trying to find a way to slow down the affects of Alzheimer’s and eventually find a way to safely treat the disease without harsh side effects. A study was recently conducted in which 104 people inhaled concentrated insulin through their nose two times a day. For two months the people involved in the trial were either given 20 mg or 40 mg of insulin, while a few others were given a saline solution as a placebo. Those who were given the 20 mg of insulin during the trial had improved memory skills which even lasted months after the treatments had stopped. Those treated with the 40 mg did not experience an improvement in memory skills while those with the placebo actually experienced a decline in their memory.
While this study needs much research and patients to test out the results on how long the improvements will actually last past the treatments. A neuropsychologist, Laurie Ryan, said that the two best things about the use of insulin in this study is that not only is insulin already easy to get and low in cost, but it also has the nasal inhaler which does not have as large of a risk of affecting blood sugar levels throughout the body. If this study proves to slow down the affects of Alzheimer’s then people all over the world would be able to take insulin to slow down the disease and have longer fulfilling lives and not have to worry about such a terrible loss of memory. Insulin is also fairly easy to get within a large majority of the world’s countries and so this treatment will be able to help out a wide variety of people all over the globe.
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-insulin-alzheimers-20110913,0,6983680.story
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