Bill Gates and other philanthropists from the US have granted the Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute a $1.5 million grant to put to the test their new technology for Alzheimer's disease.
The neurologists chose 24 Alzheimer's disease patients in their early stages to participate in the therapy. Experts have high hopes for this trial after dozens of dementia drugs have failed tests.
Sending Electrical Currents Deep in the Brain To Treat Dementia
Neurologists from Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute received a $1.5 million grant from Bill Gates and other US philanthropists to start treating Alzheimer's disease by sending electrical currents deep in the brain.
The technology is called the temporal interference brain stimulation, which will be participated by 24 patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Electrodes will be attached to their scalp during the trial that will last for two weeks with daily hour-long sessions.
The electrodes will be sending two harmless-high-frequency electric currents, 2,000 Hz and 2,005 Hz, into the brain. When these two slightly different frequencies meet, they create a third current that is a low-frequency wave of 5 Hz.
Neurologists are hoping that this third electric current will make a difference in the treatment of dementia. The frequency will be triggered in an area deep in the brain responsible for new memories, called the hippocampus.
Hopefully, the process would revive the mitochondria in that area of the brain. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell that becomes damaged when a person has Alzheimer's disease.
Unlike the two original beams, the third frequency is not too high a frequency to interfere with the healthy brain tissue. It will only have a similar rate at which the brain cells fire that allows them to spark the affected neurons back to life.
The researchers also tested their new technology on healthy patients. They found an increased blood flow in the brain and improved facial-recognition results.
But it will be the first time to test the new technology on patients with Alzheimer's disease that is scheduled in January next year.
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Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease
The new technology which aims to treat Alzheimer's disease will target the mitochondria that are damaged by the disease. According to researcher Dr. Nir Grossman, more and more evidence has come to light that mitochondrial dysfunction has a vital role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
He added that this is an essential milestone in their research after years of studying and working on breakthrough technology.
An estimated 850,000 people in the United Kingdom have dementia, and among these numbers around 500,000 have Alzheimer's disease.
Bill Gates, Mikey Hoag, and the US Alzheimer's Association have given 16 grants to different institutions including this new trial, with a total of $60 million as part of their Cloud Program.
Gates said that finding a treatment for dementia needs increased and continued research after witnessing first-hand what dementia could do to people.
Read More: Living Alone in Your 50s and 60s? Dementia Found to Be 30% More Likely: Study
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