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At Angel Carers we are used to caring for elderly people who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and are familiar with the upsetting and distressing symptoms that it can present. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia which affects 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 6 people over the age of 80.  There are currently 80,000 people in the UK that suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer’s being the most common cause.

The symptoms caused by dementia can be distressing not only for the person suffering but also for their friends and family members.  The fight against Alzheimer’s has been raging for a long time, but finally there has been a medical breakthrough that is being hailed as a ‘turning point’ in finding a cure for the disease.

This breakthrough comes in the form of a chemical which is said to be able to prevent the death of brain tissue in a neurodegenerative disease.  The chemical has been used to halt brain cell death in mice for the very first time.  Tests have shown that the vaccine could not only be used to stop the disease from advancing, but also to repair any damage that has already been done and protect people who have a history of Alzheimer’s disease in their family.

Of course, this isn’t going to be a cure ready tomorrow, there will need to be plenty more research and work in order to develop a drug safe for humans using the chemical.  It has however given people hope that there could be a treatment available for Alzheimer’s in the not too distant future.

If you want further reading on this, you can check out this article which goes into a bit more detail: Chemists Find Breakthrough Treatment for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s That Protects Brain Cells From Amyloid Plaque (goodnewsnetwork.org)