How Ultrasound Is Changing Alzheimer’s Treatment

 A recent study showed that ultrasound restored memory in three-quarters of the mice studied.  The news comes from Australian researchers who used a type of therapeutic ultrasound to stimulate brain tissue in the animals.
Penetrating the Blood-Brain Barrier
In the study, focused therapeutic ultrasound was used to open the blood-brain barrier, a protective layer in the brain, to activate cells that stimulate the central nervous system. The ultrasound also removed accumulated amyloid-β peptide in the part of the brain responsible for memory in the test animals. It’s believed that an accumulation of this peptide is responsible for AD-related memory issues. The memories of the mice in the study were also tested through a maze test, with three-quarters of the subjects showing an ability to navigate the maze.
No Noticeable Side Effects
The scanning ultrasound used in the study, which is the same type of ultrasound that would be used on humans, produced no noticeable side effects. There was also no damage to the surrounding brain tissue in the mice that were treated with the ultrasound. Such findings suggest that Alzheimer’s patients would be able to receive multiple treatments with the ultrasound without any unintentional damage to surrounding areas within the brain.
Such research is still in the early stages. The next step in the process, according to the team behind the study, is testing on sheep. The team hopes to start testing ultrasound therapy on humans by 2017. While it’s not known if the results from the initial animal study will translate to humans, such research does present hope for seniors currently living with the disease.
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