A New Hope for Dementia

According to BBC, scientists have been testing mice with developing dementia with various drugs. After a long period of time, they believe that they have finally found one drug that halts the growth of nutrients that create the "plaques and tangles" on the brain, ultimately causing memory loss. The scientists found a terrifying truth in their research, however. It turns out that microglia, the brain's very own "body guards" against infection, can mutate to become especially great at breaking down arginine. Arginine is the amino acid that is necessary across the brain, but the microglia begin to make the number of arginine molecules deplete, causing individuals to develop the first stage of dementia. The scientists had begun to target the enzymes that were attacking the arginine. This showed great results, as the mice tested upon showed less symptoms of the mental illness. However, the research also showed that once the arginine was broken down, even supplements could not fix the problem, as they would just be broken down too. The only hope was that more original arginine would not be broken down any further. This new development has created a great hope for the many people who will most likely develop the illness. This is not the only way to prevent dementia, though. Oddly enough, a study showed that, during a person's midlife, that being overweight can actually decrease your chances of developing dementia and Alzheimer's. The study also showed that those with a body mass index, or BMI, of less that 20 kg/m2 had a 34 percent higher chance of developing Alzheimer's and dementia, while people with a BMI of 40 or above had a 29 percent decreased chance of obtaining the disease. While this may be true, I do not recommend becoming obese just to avoid dementia, as their are numerous other health problems that come with obesity. I just hope and pray that dementia and Alzheimer's research will develop a cure of some sort soon. I know what it is like to take care of someone with late Alzheimer's disease and my sympathy goes out to anyone doing the same. Let us hope that this new drug is the one to end the fight.