MIX ’N’ MATCH MEDS CRUSH ALZHEIMER’S!

AHIGHLY effective treatment to knock out

Alzheimer’s disease — consisting of two existing drugs — may have been hiding in plain sight for more than half a century, experts said. Groundbreaking research from Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center found a cocktail of gemfibrozil and retinoic acid, which have been on the market for decades, reversed brain damage caused by the disease in animal studies by counteracting Alzheimer’scausing brain plaques! Gemfibrozil is an old-school cholesterol med first patented in 1968 but largely replaced by statins, and retinoic acid, a vitamin A derivative, is used to treat everything from acne to cancer.

According to researchers, the drug combo displayed the uncanny ability to zero in on cells called astrocytes, which enable the accumulation of amyloid beta — the gooey plaques that destroy brain function and are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s.

But gemfibrozil-retinoic acid dosing forced the astrocytes to reverse their destructive process, reduce the plaques and improve cognitive function — in effect, acting as brain “clearing machines,” the scientists said.

Shockingly, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s every 65 seconds in the U.S. More than 6 million people live with the disease — including legendary crooner Tony Bennett, 95 — but that figure is expected to more than double in the next 30 years!

However, study author Dr. Sumita Raha said her team’s lab results suggest low-dose gemfibrozil and retinoic acid “might be repurposed as a treatment for reducing the plaque burden and improving cognition.”

It’s not yet known when the experiments might advance to a human clinical trial, but research into the potential treatment continues.