Stimulating immune response 'could treat Alzheimer's'

Stimulating the brain's immune response could treat Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of South Florida's Department of Psychiatry and the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.

Triggering the CD45 molecule, which is a receptor on cells associated with brain immune responses, was found to block an early step in the development of Alzheimer's in mice.

Study senior author Jun Tan said: "These findings are quite significant, because many in the field have long considered CD45 to be an indicator of harmful inflammation. So, researchers assumed that CD45 was part of the problem, not a potential protective factor."

Meanwhile the Alzheimer's Association in the US has found that one in eight of the baby boomers generation will develop the condition.

This means that around ten million of "Generation Alzheimer's" will die with or from the disease with no way to prevent, cure or stop its progression.

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