A study has found that squirting insulin up the noses of patients with Alzheimer’s may improve their memory. The unlikely results showed that patients who received the treatments for at least four months showed improvements in memory tests that they were administered. In the tests, they were asked to recall the last two months. Previously, these memories would have likely been lost to the disease.
“We believe our results are very promising and they warrant future trials,” said Dr. Suzanne Craft of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. The disease is fatal and is completely incurable as it is the deterioration of the brain. It affects a total of 26 million people around the world, and is the most common form of dementia.
Several studies have suggested that the disease causes reduced levels of insulin in the brain, even in the earliest stages. By squirting the insulin up the nose, you may be able to keep areas of the brain function that may have previously deteriorated. Insulin is important for communication between cells in the brain.
The study involved 109 non-diabetic patients with the disease, or a precursor condition related to the disease. One third of the patients received a placebo, and the other two thirds received a different dose of insulin. The insulin had been loaded into a nebulizer and then squired up their nose twice a day over the four month period. It will be interesting to see where this information takes us.