Rehabilitating a brain with Alzheimer's: a proposal

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, originating sporadically in the population aged over 65 years, and advanced age is the principal risk factor leading to AD development. In spite of the large amount of research going on around the globe and all the information now available about AD, there is still no origin or triggering process known so far. Drugs approved for the treatment of AD include tacrine, donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine. These may delay or slow down the degenerative process for a while, but they can neither stop nor reverse its progression. Because that this might be due to a lack of effect of these drugs on degenerating neurons, even when they are able to potentiate the brain in nondegenerative conditions, we propose here an alternative therapy consisting of initial repair of neuronal membranes followed by conventional drug therapies. The rehabilitation of neurons in a degeneration process would enable the drugs to act more effectively on them and improve the effects of treatment in AD patients.

Keywords: Alzheimer; drugs; rehabilitation.

Figure 1

Restoration of the dendritic spine. Dendrites damaged as a result of Alzheimer’s disease would result in abnormal neurotransmission because the receptors are not located in the right site as a result of the effect of neurodegeneration. The repair process is shown, beginning with omega-3 to allow repair of membranes and thus locate the receptors in the right places for effective neurotransmission. Serotonergic neurons would help in the formation of circuits due to the use of serotonin reuptake. Resveratrol and Ginkgo biloba serve as antioxidants and in the process of memory, respectively. Folic acid maintains the integrity of the newly repaired circuits.

Figure 2

Alternative therapy to rehabilitate a neuron.

Figure 3

Proposed experiment to probe the alternative therapy.