A naturally-occurring plant compound shows great potential for treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and depression

( Natural News ) Scientists have learned a lot about most of the body’s organs over the years. The growing body of knowledge on the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys has enabled many people to enjoy much better health outcomes in recent times. However, there is still a lot about the brain that we don’t know – although scientists are learning that some answers don’t have to be very complicated. Take, for example, conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression. Challenging to treat and prevent, they’ve left researchers stumped in many ways. While pharmaceutical companies work around the clock to develop the latest and greatest drug, other researchers are finding that a simple plant compound could make all the difference in the world. Inspired by previous research which revealed that flavonoids have a positive effect on learning and memory, Brazilian researchers have demonstrated that the flavonoid apigenin can improve the formation of neurons and strengthen the connections between brain cells. When they applied apigenin to human stem cells in a lab, neurons formed in less than a month – something that would not have happened without apigenin. On top of that, these neurons formed stronger and more sophisticated communications between one another. This is essential for brain health in general, and learning and memory in particular. Their findings were published in the journal Advances in Regenerative Biology . One area where this could prove useful is as an alternative to estrogen-based therapies . This hormone group can delay the onset of neurogenerative and psychiatric disorders, but such therapies can also raise a person’s risk of cardiovascular issues as well as estrogen-dependent tumors. Apigenin could be a viable alternative as it binds to estrogen receptors, which are known to impact the function, plasticity, maturation and development of the nervous […]

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