Alzheimer's Patients Saw Improved Cognition and Memory With Sargramostim

A study in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions suggests Sargramostim, a medication used to boost white blood cells after cancer treatments, can effectively treat and improve cognition and memory in people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, reports SciTechDaily . "The goal of the clinical trial was to examine the impact of a natural human protein called granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor GM-CSF on people living with Alzheimer's disease," said Huntington Potter at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. "We tested GM-CSF because people with rheumatoid arthritis tend not to get Alzheimer's disease and we had previously found this protein, which is increased in the blood of people with rheumatoid arthritis, reduced amyloid deposition in Alzheimer's mice and returned their poor memory to normal after a few weeks of treatment. Thus, naturally increased levels of GM-CSF in people with rheumatoid arthritis may be one reason that they are protected from Alzheimer's disease." GM-CSF/Sargramostim can boost macrophage and granulocyte production in bone marrow, and also generate more progenitor cells that repair blood vessels. These cells circulate throughout the body and purge unwanted cells, bacteria, and amyloid deposits. Potter said the study results "suggest that short-term Sargramostim treatment leads to innate immune system activation, cognition and memory improvement, and partial normalization of blood measures of amyloid and tau pathology and neuronal damage in participants with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease."