What scientists have done is making human brain cells in a laboratory, in a search to find new drugs and treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common form for dementia, and it affects a lot of people all around the world.
The neurons they made, are the once who causes memory loss when they stop working, and are really important for the memory function in our brains. It is therefore important to understand why this happens and what can be done to prevent it. If we can do this, we can most likely find drugs that can slow the progression of the disease, and perhaps later in the future, find a way to transplant brain cells to treat memory loss associated with the disorder.
They don’t have a treatment yet, but the information they do have, is going to be very helpful later.
The study also shows that the transplantation is not safe yet. If the stern cells got mixed up with the neurons, they could grow into tumors. The risk is also quite big, due to the fact that the patient would have to take drugs to repress their immune system, so that their body wouldn’t reject the cells.
The article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/mar/04/brain-cells-alzheimers-drugs
I chose to write about this article, because it contains some very important information. Alzheimer is a terrible disease, which effects a lot of people. If a cure or a good treatment is found, it will save lives and improve the quality of it.
