Prickly pear could be used to slow Alzheimer's
Scientists have discovered that chemicals extracted from these plants lessened the symptoms shown by organisms with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
The findings are the first of the sort worldwide to be published in a scientific journal - January’s edition of the Neuroscience Letters. In the study the researchers tested the effects of the chemicals on fruit flies. Once injected with the chemicals they saw a lifespan increase of about four years in human terms.
These age-related diseases are characterised by the accumulation of sticky protein clumps that, over time damage the nervous system, eroding mobility or memory, and these chemicals help reduce that Dr Cauchi explained.
