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(KSL News) -- New treatments working for stroke patients might help alzheimer's patients as well.
Doctors believe "free radicals", or extra nerve cells floating around the brain, might lead to degenerative disorders. The cure could be in anti-oxidants. Neurologists say the trick is getting anti-oxidants to the brain.
Stuart Lipton, M.D., Burnham Institute for Medical Research: "The problem is most anti-oxidants don't get to the root of the problems in the brain, they don't get to the right place.
"Our paradigm has been to try to produce drugs, gentle drugs that only work where and when you need them."
Researchers say "gentle drugs" get the brain to produce its own anti-oxidants. It's still being researched, but doctors are hopeful about preliminary results, going so far as to say it could revolutionize the way the body ages.
A full report is in this month's issue of the "Proceeding of National Academy of Sciences."