Tackling Dementia Using Ultrasound
Scientists in Japan have demonstrated that ultrasound may be
useful to stimulate blood vessel and nerve cell formation in the brains of
mice.
Dementia affects about 50 million people worldwide, with 10
million new cases occurring every year. There are currently no curative
treatments available for vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, the most
common causes of dementia.
In this study, a team of scientists led by cardiologist Dr.
Hiroaki Shimokawa at Tohoku University, Japan, sought a way to treat dementia
without using drugs. Shimokawa and his team had conducted previous studies
showing that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) improved blood vessel
formation in pigs with myocardial ischemia, a condition where there is reduced
blood flow to the heart.
Other studies have reported that LIPUS increases the
production of proteins involved in nerve cell survival and growth, in addition
to promoting nerve regeneration. Focusing LIPUS treatment on a region in the
brain called the hippocampus, which is involved in memory, has also been found
to improve dementia in mice.
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