Drug used to treat Alzheimer's boots language & learning skills in children with DS

[Thomcat]

My mum cut it out of The Daily Mail for me, an article on a drug that is in the early stage of being tested on children with DS.

The drug is called Aricept and it triggered a significant improvement in children as young as 8 who took part in a samll trial.

The findings need to be replicated in bigger studies before it can be routinely prescribed & scientists are optimistic it could be the first effective drug treatment for DS.

It works by blocking an enzyne that breaks down acetylcholine in the brain. so supplies of the chemical increase, boosting the brains capacity for learning and recall.

oh that sounds very interesting - might try and do a search and see what I can find ..

Yeah that's what I thought. Let's speak more about this when we can find out more.

Is this heavy metal chelation? Because I know they do that with people with Alzheimers and its something that is promoted as possibly beneficial to children with autism. Actually, I think its somethinge else entirely looking at the fact that its a drug trial....

Not heavy metal chaelation. It is an acetycholinesterase inhibitor. ACH is a neurotransmitter that passes information from one neurone to another. acetylcholinesterase is a naturaly occuring enzyme that is present in the gap between neurones. It breakes down the ACH and effectivly switches the neurone 'off'. The parts of the ACH are them eabsorbed by the original neurone to be re-used. By blocking the enzyme neurones stay 'on' longer. It is a bit more complex than this and sorry if I have been teaching grannies to suck eggs

Thanks HMB, I actually don't know a lot about this at all! I may look like a granny but I still need to learn to suck eggs!

I can bore for Britain on achesterase inhibitors, just taught this to my Upper sixth class!