Summary: A new, small study in the U.S. has shown that a daily spritz of insulin in patients' noses helped improve their memory skills. Patients were 104 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's and aMCI (amnestic mild cognitive impairment, which is a pre-Alzheimer's condition.). 36 patients got a moderate dose daily of the insulin spray, 36 got a higher dose, and 30 patients were given a placebo daily. This study occurred over four months. The patients who received the lower dose showed improvements in remembering details of a story after a small lapse in time. There was no improvement in the patients that were given the higher dose compared with the placebo group. Both groups that received the insulin spray made improvements in general thinking skills on ADAS-cog (this is a common assessment test). Experts of Alzheimer's disease say that this discovery needs to be confirmed in a larger study that goes on for a longer amount of time. Current drugs temporarily treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's, but there are no drugs to stop the progression of the disease.
Critique: I can't imagine going to see a family member who doesn't remember me or many other simple things. I also can't imagine being someone with Alzheimer's. People would come to see me all the time and would cry or be angry if I didn't recognize them. Both situations would be extremely hard. I think that anything that could stop this would be worth pursuing to the ends of the universe.
Impact: 5.4 million Americans and 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is fatal. I think millions of people's lives could be saved by stopping Alzheimer's with research found after more studies and tests of this spray.
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