Insulin shows promise for reversing memory loss

Although injecting insulin is commonly used to help individuals with diabetes, new research is showing that squirting it into the nose may improve the memory of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Reuters reports that those who received the treatment for four months showed increased cognizance in tests for up to two months.


"We believe our results are very promising and they warrant future trials," Dr Suzanne Craft of the University of Washington in Seattle told a meeting at the Alzheimer's Association in Honolulu.


The study focused on 109 non-diabetic patients with Alzheimer's or mild cognitive impairment.

While Craft admitted that the treatment has a long way to go, it is encouraging because, according to the news source, there are currently no drugs to improve memory in patients with the mental illness.


The National Institute on Ageing says that anywhere from 2.4 to 5.1 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, but that number is expected to grow. By 2030, the population of people over the age of 65 is expected to balloon to 72 million, with the number of people with the disease doubling for every 5 years past 65.


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