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Skin Cancer Drug Reverses Alzheimer's Symptoms In Mice

Posted by timothy on from the with-very-few-exceptions-a-mouse-is-not-a-human-being dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A skin cancer drug may rapidly reverse pathological, cognitive and memory deterioration associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to new research published on Thursday. Bexarotene, a drug that is currently used to combat T cell lymphoma, appeared to reverse plaque buildup and improve memory in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease by reducing levels of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that cause mental deficits in Alzheimer's disease."

2 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Toxilogical Info by Draconi · · Score: 5, Informative

    RTECS No: not available
    Acute toxicity: oral toxicity (LD50): >1500 mg/kg (rat); >720 mg/kg (dog)
    Dermal NOEL: 0.01% (rat)
    Primary irritant effect:
    On the skin: not known; may be an irritant; exposure may exacerbate the deleterious effects of sunlight
    On the eye: not known; may be an irritant
    Ingestion: may cause effects similar to hypervitaminosis A including headache, nausea, vomiting, lip inflammation, mucous membrane dryness, joint pain, scaly skin, and hyperlipidemia

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    Yeah. I'd still take it.

    1. Re:Toxilogical Info by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Informative

      Hey, if you have a lot of wanderers in your family, check out Project Lifesaver.

      They have a wrist-mounted transmitter that lets police and caregivers (who have the receivers) find wandering patients quickly and safely. 100% success rate.

      I wrote the code for the transmitters; it was done so well that they didn't need me anymore. (They got Microchip to program them by the reel.)

      --

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      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.