Nasal spray could prevent Alzheimer’s disease, brain inflammation

A nasal spray containing specialized fatty acids may be the answer to preventing Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds. Researchers say the treatment successfully stopped memory loss and brain degeneration in an experimental model of Alzheimer’s — the most common form of dementia in older adults.

The team from LSU Health New Orleans and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden says the intranasal treatment uses pro-resolving lipid mediators to protect the brain from cognitive decline. These lipids are fatty acids, like omega-3, which are capable of easing inflammation.

This benefit is critical because neuroinflammation is a key symptom of neurodegenerative disorders like dementia. Dr. Nicolas Bazan from LSU Health discovered that neuroprotectin D1 (NPD1) is one of the lipid mediators which protects the brain.

Previous studies by Bazan’s team have found that NPD1 also protects against retinal damage and the effects of a stroke. In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, study authors say NPD1 levels in the memory area of the brain are very low.

Stopping inflammation in the brain is key

Researchers explain that undoing inflammation is no easy task. It takes mediators, cell subtypes, and communication pathways all working together to do it.

Specifically, cell communications which order the body’s protective mechanisms to turn on are necessary. This silences pro-inflammatory signaling pathways in the body. The team notes that NPD1 are one of the main signaling molecules in this process.

Dr. Bazan’s team believes their findings point to a noninvasive treatment that may prevent not just Alzheimer’s, but other diseases which start with brain inflammation as well.

“AD lacks prevention or cure and exerts a horrendous toll on patients and their families due to crippling progression and devastating adverse events,” Bazan says in a university release. “Millions of Americans currently suffer from AD, and the number is expected to escalate rapidly in the coming years.”

The partnership between LSU and the Karolinska Institutet is also looking into the unique signals in the cerebral spinal fluid which protect the brain from dementia onset.

“This productive collaboration is uncovering important aspects of early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, and the novel evolving mechanisms are promising paths for innovative therapies like the one disclosed in the current paper,” says Professor Marianne Schultzberg, Senior Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society at the Karolinska Institutet.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. That’s more than the number of deaths due to breast and prostate cancer combined.

The study is published in the journal Communications Biology.

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About the Author

Steve Fink

Steve Fink is the Editor-in-Chief of BrainTomorrow.com, GutNews.com and StudyFinds.com. He is formerly the Vice President of News Engagement for CBS Television Stations’ websites, and spent 20 years with CBS.

Comments

  1. Good day,
    its in the beginning stages of study and not for use now, (my assumption) but is there anything you would suggest for healthy people, some type of fish oil to act as the omega 3 anti-inflammatory lowering mechanism? If so how much, I have issues with fish oil due to some purity issues as well as coagulating or lack there of issues over time.

    1. Algae oil is superior to fish oil. Algae is what fish eat to obtain the Omega-3. You can find vegan supplements that are farm-sourced that contain no fish and no heavy metals such as Mercury.

    2. Am very interested in this product. My wife has memory and balance issues due to two serious head falls trauma . Where can I purchase this product online or a store purchase. Even a trial candidate would be fine. I live in Orange Park, FL. David Humphrey phone 904 885 2916

    1. This is such early stage research it would be near impossible to predict when it may, if ever be available.

      It was done in mice. Which often doesn’t translate to humans. Human trials can take years. Probably will take years to even get a phase one trial going. And then you have to follow those patients for years.

  2. I am so disappointed to see this article quoting someone who says Alzheimer’s cannot be prevented.

    I am an Amen Licensed Brain Trainer, nutritionist and sound therapist, and can tell you that, while it takes work, it can be done. Not only can we prevent cognitive decline and ultimately dementia and AD, we can improve brain and mental health in the present.

    It seems terrible to leave people with the idea that their only hope rests in a drug.

    1. what treatments do you recommend? fasting, supplements like nac, biofeedback and photobiomodulation? anything else?

    2. How can you prove that your method is effective? Do you rely on any statistics or study of who took your treatment? Share us please.

    1. You can’t. In fact, not only can you not get it, this is likely the last time you’ll ever hear about it.

  3. That drug company selling FDA approved $30000 drug last year will sponsor a study with errors just like they did years ago for Vitamin C immunity the NIH finally dissed, and the one for cheap niacin for LDL cholesterol that had an additive to prevent flushing that my heart doc dissed and got me pure form script.

  4. Eat more fat: rib eyes, bacon, whole milk. Years of low fat diets have put many people at risk.
    “A nasal spray containing specialized fatty acids”

  5. Since there is no rush to launch a Manhattan Project, (or even a focus on the scale of the Covid vaccine project), I think we can safely discount the seriousness of this “study”. (If it were serious I would sell my house to help make such a product available .. every day of delay kills countless human beings .. and family).

  6. “…in an experimental model of Alzheimer’s…”
    Don’t get excited; it’s just some expensive non-science, non-treatment, non-news from grant hounds, and your great-great-grand children are further into debt slavery.

  7. Yeah, this headline pops up every year or two. The “model” is only a computer model so establishment researchers can tinker with it. Then they issue fake news (propaganda) and cash some checks.

  8. People, let’s be very clear that the paper presents data in a mouse model. Don’t get excited and Steve Fink, please use the term “MOUSE MODEL” to make sure your readers are not misled

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