Daffodils could be key to beating dementia
A SHEEP farmer could hold the key to fighting Alzheimer’s after he began growing a variety of daffodils containing a chemical used to treat the disease.
Kevin Stephens’s flowers produce high quantities of galanthamine, which corrects the imbalance in the brain thought to cause the degenerative condition.
Scientists believe the daffodils grown in the Black Mountains in Wales produce more of the chemical than lowland species due to the stress they face in having to endure harsh winters at 1,200ft. These unfavourable conditions cause them to flower much later in the season than regular flowers.
Mr Stephens has spent the past six years developing a method of growing and harvesting the daffodils to extract galanthamine for use in Alzheimer’s drugs.
It takes 100 daffodils to produce enough of the chemical to treat one sufferer a year.
There are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK and this number is set to grow to one million by 2025.
Mr Stephens, 51, has set up the bio-research firm Agroceutical, from its land near Hay-on-Wye in Breckonshire, Powys, and has a licence to produce enough galanthamine to give 9,000 patients daily doses. It is now being stored until the pharmaceutical industry gets involved in the process. It has been tested by scientists at Bangor University, left, and Mr Stephens claims he could eventually treat 225,000 patients. He said: “Within a few years we could have very significant quantities of galanthamine and actually make a positive difference to the world.”