testing brain pacemakers to zap alzheimer's damage

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_HEALTHBEAT_ALZHEIMERS_IMPLANTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-20-09-02-07



FILE - This undated file image provided by Merck & Co., shows a cross section of a normal brain, right, and one of a brain damaged by advanced Alzheimer's disease. A dramatic shift is beginning in the disappointing struggle to find something to slow the damage of Alzheimer's disease: The first U.S. experiments with "brain pacemakers" for Alzheimer's are getting under way. Scientists are looking beyond drugs to implants in the hunt for much-needed new treatments. (AP Photo/Merck & Co., File)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It has the makings of a science fiction movie: Zap someone's brain with mild jolts of electricity to try to stave off the creeping memory loss of Alzheimer's disease.

And it's not easy. Holes are drilled into the patient's skull so tiny wires can be implanted into just the right spot.

A dramatic shift is beginning in the disappointing struggle to find something to slow the damage of this epidemic: The first U.S. experiments with "brain pacemakers" for Alzheimer's are getting under way. Scientists are looking beyond drugs to implants in the hunt for much-needed new treatments.

The research is in its infancy. Only a few dozen people with early-stage Alzheimer's will be implanted in a handful of hospitals. No one knows if it might work, and if it does, how long the effects might last.

[2pooped2pop]

1. good news.

My mother and grand mother died with it.