The answer to this question is…not yet.
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered a chemical compound found in fruits and vegetables such as strawberries and cucumbers that can actually stops memory loss in its’ tracks.
According to a Salk News Release , “In experiments on mice that normally develop Alzheimer’s symptoms less than a year after birth, a daily dose of the compound—a flavonol called fisetin—prevented the progressive memory and learning impairments. The drug, however, did not alter the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, accumulations of proteins which are commonly blamed for Alzheimer’s disease. The new finding suggests a way to treat Alzheimer’s symptoms independently of targeting amyloid plaques.”
In other words, certain fruits and vegetables that contain that particular flavonol called fisetin could actually prevent Alzheimer’s disease; even for certain species that are actually prone to the debilitating disease like mice.
For now it is progressively assisting memory retention in the lab mice who would have usually lost any and all memory by age one.
What does this mean for humans?
According to Pamela Maher, senior staff scientist at Salk’s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, “We started the mice on the drugs before they had any memory loss. But obviously human patients don’t go to the doctor until they are already having memory problems.” So the next step in moving the discovery toward the clinic, she says, is to test whether fisetin can reverse declines in memory once they have already appeared.”
In the meantime, I say we all do some crossword puzzles and stuff our faces with anything and everything that contains the chemical compound of Fisetin.
Strawberry shortcake anyone?
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