Seaweed used to treat Alzheimer's

[cory777]

Source: ANSA

Italian scientists find brain-shielding chemical in sea algae
11 January, 18:02

Seaweed used to treat Alzheimer's (ANSA) - Rome, January 11 - A chemical found in seaweed may shield the brain against the devastating effects of Alzheimer's Disease, an incurable illness affecting millions of people worldwide, an Italian biochemist said Monday.

Giovanni Scapagnini of Molise University in southern Italy said a number of seaweed varieties contain large amounts of a chemical called homotaurine, which may protect the brain against the corrosion observed in people with Alzheimer's. He and his team gave homotaurine to around 2,000 patients across Europe and the US and, after 18 months, found the chemical had ''greatly reduced'' the presence of brain toxins thought to be a factor in the onset of this degenerative disease.

''It also helps to preserve the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with long-term memory and one of the first to show signs of damage''.

Read more: http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2010/01/11/visualizza_new.html_1672844594.html

[Sanity Claws]

1. Is homotaurine a form of taurine?

My recollection is that taurine is an amino acid.

[Richard D]

3. Wikipedia

Homotaurine (also spelled homotaurin) is a synthetic organic compound. It is analogous to taurine, but with an extra carbon in its chain. Because of its similarity in structure to the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), it has GABAergic effects and may be useful as an anticonvulsant.<2>

Homotaurine is also being investigated as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease. It binds to soluble amyloid beta and inhibits the formation of neurotoxic aggregates that lead to amyloid plaque deposition in the brain.<3>

Homotaurine is a zwitterion at neutral pH.
The zwitterionic form of homotaurine
References

1. ^ Homotaurine at Sigma-Aldrich
2. ^ Fariello RG, Golden GT, Pisa M (1982). "Homotaurine (3 aminopropanesulfonic acid; 3APS) protects from the convulsant and cytotoxic effect of systemically administered kainic acid". Neurology 32 (3): 241–5. PMID 7199633.
3. ^ Aisen PS, Gauthier S, Vellas B, et al. (2007). "Alzhemed: a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease". Curr Alzheimer Res 4 (4): 473–8. doi:10.2174/156720507781788882. PMID 17908052.

[sofa king]

2. ... Because they can't remember how much they hate eating it.

Sorry. The low-hanging fruit is often the bitterest.

[Name removed]

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[Richard D]

4. Already been marketed

http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/tag/homotaurine/

[eShirl]

6. excellent link; thank you

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. wow dude. You can grow weed in seawater? Coool

[woodsprite]

7. Wonder if this could work for people with Pick's disease.

Our friend was just diagnosed. The doc said that it's like Alzheimers on steroids and she could be totally non-communicative within 2 years. She had a devil of a time being diagnosed, and none of the Alzheimers drugs really work to slow the progression of Pick's. It deteriorates the frontal lobe, so it actually starts attacking a different area than Alzheimers. I think I'll send the link off to her hubby. We've been friends since I was 13. I'm 46 and she's 55. :(

[Shanti Mama]

9. I'm so sorry to hear of your friend's diagnosis.

A good friend of mine was diagnosed about a year ago, after Alzheimer's-like symptoms progressed so rapidly over the course of a year that she often recognized no one she knew. It is a truly terrible disease that I'd not heard of until then.

[handmade34]

8. I hope all those years of eating

dulse has helped... I love the stuff

[Tumbulu]

10. I have been eating a sheet of Nori everyday for years

I still feel as though I am losing my memory. Maybe Nori doesn't have too much of this homotaurine or maybe I would be way worse without it. I love it, though.

[Warpy]

11. Don't go out and buy seaweed to eat unless you like it

because this is a specific chemical refined from a specific variety of seaweed and only the active chemical has any potential.

However, if you like seaweed, do eat it. It's got a lot more going for it than insignificant amounts of a chemical which might or might not be there.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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