There are nearly 5.8 million people currently living with Alzheimer's disease in the U.S. With the country’s aging population, the number is expected to grow to nearly 14 million by 2050, with one person developing the disease every 65 seconds, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Finding a cure for the disease has been one of the greatest challenges for the medical community. To date, available medications can only reduce or control its symptoms. But Arizona-based medical device company NeuroEM Therapeutics recently announced that it found a way to prevent Alzheimer's. Researchers developed a new wearable technology that works to reverse the cognitive impairment caused by the disease. The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, states the device, called MemorEM, did not cause any negative effects on users. Participants showed enhanced cognitive performance after two months of treatment. During initial tests, each participant took the one-hour therapy two times a day. MemorEM delivers electromagnetic waves to the brain cells through specialized emitters in a head cap. The device targets the toxic proteins called A-beta and tau, which contribute to cognitive loss because of Alzheimer's disease. After the two-month therapy, participants had a 50 percent decrease in forgetting and increased communication between neurons in a brain area critical for cognitive integration. Seven out of the eight participants with Alzheimer's appeared with enhanced cognitive performance. NeuroEM researchers also found the wearable tech did not cause any unwanted effects in all eight patients. "Perhaps the best indication that the two months of treatment was having a clinically-important effect on the AD patients in this study is that none of the patients wanted to return their head device to the University of South Florida/Byrd Alzheimer's Institute after the study was completed,” NeuroEM CEO Gary Arendash said in a statement. Another advantage of using MemorEM is that caregivers were able to use the device easily at home with the patients. The technology is also portable that it allows patients to move anytime and do household activities during the therapy. NeuroEM plans to begin the clinical trial with 150 Alzheimer's patients later in 2019. If the device continues to be effective and safe to reverse the effects of the disease, the company said it may seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration to commercialize MemorEM. Source
