Alzheimer’s patients get nicotine boost

The small pilot study, though not conclusive, may point the way to treatments that delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Scientists carried out memory and thinking skill tests on 67 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over six months.

Half the participants, who had an average age of 76, were treated daily nicotine skin patches while the others wore placebos. In six months, the nicotine-treated group had regained 46 per cent of normal long-term memory for their age. Their attention also improved.

The authors of the research, published in the journal Neurology, have been quick, however, to scuttle any suggestion that smoking might stave off Alzheimer’s.

“People with mild memory loss should not start smoking or using nicotine patches by themselves, because of the harmful effects of smoking and a medication such as nicotine should only be used with a doctor’s supervision,” said lead scientist Dr Paul Newhouse, from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in the US.