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 Although the prospect of a pill for Alzheimer's remains a long way off, the landmark British study provides a major new pathway for future drug treatments. It was tested in mice with prion disease - the best animal model of human neurodegenerative disorders - but scientists said they were confident the same principles would apply in a human brain with debilitating brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. The study, published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, was carried out at the Medical Research Council's (MRC) Toxicology Unit at the University of Leicester. Lead scientist Professor Giovanna Mallucci, from the MRC Toxicology Unit, said: "We were extremely excited when we saw the treatment stop the disease in its tracks and protect brain cells, restoring some normal behaviours and preventing memory loss in the mice." Although the compound also produced significant side effects in mice, including weight loss and mild diabetes, which was caused by damage to the pancreas, Professor Mallucci said it would “not be impossible” to develop a drug that protected the brain without the side effects and that work towards doing so had been “very promising”. Computer graphic of a vertical (coronal) slice through the brain of an Alzheimer patient (credit: Science Photo Library) 
 
 Professor Roger Morris, acting head King's College London's department of chemistry, said: “This is the first convincing report that a small drug, of the type most conveniently turned into medicines, stops the progressive death of neurons in the brain as found, for instance, in Alzheimer's disease. "True, this study has been done in mice, not man; and it is prion disease, not Alzheimer's, that has been cured. However, there is considerable evidence that the way neurons die in both diseases is similar; and lessons learned in mice from prion disease have proved accurate guides to attenuate the progress of Alzheimer's disease in patients.” 
 
 “From finding the first effective drug in a mouse, to having an effective medicine in man, usually takes decades to bring to fruition, in the very few cases in which it is successful. ”This finding, I suspect, will be judged by history as a turning point in the search for medicines to control and prevent Alzheimer's disease.“ 
 
 David Allsopp, professor of neuroscience at Lancaster University said that the study had thrown up ”very dramatic and highly encouraging results“, but said that more research was needed to overcome the "problematic side-effects" and to prove the technique would be effective against other disease like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Prion diseases, which include Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), are rare in humans but share the same underlying cause - misfolded proteins - as more common conditions such as Alzheimer's. Dr Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Targeting a mechanism relevant to a number of neurodegenerative diseases could yield a single drug with wide-reaching benefits, but this compound is still at an early stage.
– Scientists are calling it a breakthrough and a turning point: In a new study, a compound successfully halted brain cell death in mice, meaning we're one step closer to a pill that can treat Alzheimer's, the Independent reports. Neurodegenerative diseases halt the production of key proteins, which in turn results in the unprotected brain cells dying off, and symptoms appearing. The compound blocks the faulty brain signal that causes the initial "shutdown," thus basically flipping the switch from "off" back to "on." Proteins are produced, brain cells are protected, and symptoms are reversed. The mice in the study had prion disease, which is similar to a human neurodegenerative disorder. After receiving the compound, memory loss and other symptoms including impaired reflexes and limb dragging were reversed; the treated mice also lived longer than those who didn't receive the compound, Sky News reports. Though it's still a long way off, scientists think a treatment based on these findings could also help people with Parkinson's disease. Now the bad news: The mice did suffer side effects, including weight loss and diabetes. (In other Alzheimer's news, how well you can smell peanut butter could predict your risk of getting the disease.)