New hope for the patient of Alzheimer’s disease is raised because researchers have recognized a memory materswitch in the brain, they told that when this switch is turned off due to illness and ageing the memory of a person gets fade.
When medication is used to flip the masterswitch back on then the ability of the brain to store any information improves spectacularly. Researcher found in laboratory test over mice that by activating the switch the aged creatures regain the memory power of their youth. They are sure that a similar brain switch exits in human beings.
Researchers used the drug over mice is known as Vorinostat which is already used to treat cases of rare blood cancer. The use of this drug is very critical for human brain. Existing drugs can arrest the development of the disease but do not sure to work for everyone, moreover their side effects ward off over time.
A tiny protein in brain of mice called H4K12 which controls genes that are key to learning and memory. To turning on protein H4K12 was likely to help the people who had both Alzheimer’s and age-related memory loss, explained Dr Fischer, of the European Neuroscience Institute in Goettingen, Germany.
He further told that this might be a feasible move towards therapeutic intrusion in ageing. These studies would hopefully guide more effectual preventive approaches to improve the quality of life in the aged as well as contributed to a better understanding of memory functions.
By finding other switches that can act in a same way, the treatment of other conditions of the brain such as Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia could be improved significantly. This understanding is vital to develop ways to protect the ageing brain from cognitive decline, explains Dr Marie Janson, of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.