Oh yoohoo, Green Helmet Guy! Come out, come out wherever you are! We have another job for you!An experimental helmet which scientists say could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease within weeks of being used is to be tried out on patients. The strange-looking headgear - which has to be worn for ten minutes every day - bathes the brain with infra-red light and stimulates the growth of brain cells.
Does it work better for bald folks then?
| Infra-red light penetrates the skull. O-o-o-o-o-o-kaaaaay .... |
What happens when the tinfoil hat crowd starts losing their ... uh ... "minds"? Oh, nevermind. Forget I asked. I just saw some white space and had to fill it with something.
Alzheimer's disease charities last night described the treatment as "potentially life- changing" - but stressed that the research was still at the very early stages.
| How early? |
Around
Just kidding! But it seems there may be three more people with dementia than originally thought.
The helmet is the creation of Dr Gordon Dougal, a director of Virulite, a medical research company based in County Durham. It follows a study at the University of Sunderland which found infra-red light can reverse memory loss in mice.
Do they use walnut shells for helmets?
Dr Dougal claims that only ten minutes under the hat a day is enough to have an effect.
Err, go on.
"Currently all you can do with dementia is to slow down the rate of decay - this new process will not only stop that rate of decay but partially reverse it," he said.
Perhaps for brain cells, but certainly not for your pocketbook.
Low level infra-red red is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue and encourage their repair. It is able to penetrate the skin and even get through the skull.
Human skulls are somewhat thicker than mice skulls, with some being thicker than others. Is there any hope for MSM types? :-)
| I'd order the 10,000 watt version for Cindy Sheehan ... |
And our bank accounts, too!
"We age because our cells lose the desire to regenerate and repair themselves. This ultimately results in cell death and decline of the organ functions - for the brain resulting in memory decay and deterioration in general intellectual performance.
That's funny. I thought aging was the result of cells losing their protective telomere tails over time! Somehow this glues them back on?
"But what if there was a technology that told the cells to repair themselves and that technology was something as simple as a specific wavelength of light?"
Yeah! What if!
| What if I could lose |
I hope the mazes are bigger, and that the subjects like cheese.
Neuroscientist Paul Chazot, who helped carry out the research, said: "The results are completely new - this has never been looked at before."
I wonder why.
An Alzheimer's Society spokesman said: "A treatment that reverses the effects of dementia rather than just temporarily halting its symptoms could change the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people. We look forward to further research to determine whether this technique could help improve cognition in humans."
If it actually does work, and it might, I doubt it is because IR light is going through skin and bone. You may be able to stick any part of the subject under IR light and get the same effect. And that way they wouldn't have to wear Marvin the Martian's helmet and look like a dork.