Rosemary helps protects the brain

Life Extension Update Exclusive..........

Reports published online recently in The Journal of Neurochemistry and Nature Reviews Neuroscience revealed the discovery of scientists in Japan and at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, California that a compound known as carnosic acid that occurs in the herb rosemary fights free radical damage in the brain in an animal model of impaired blood flow. Free radicals are believed to contribute to stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and the deleterious effects of aging on the brain.The finding may be useful in the development of a therapy for aged individuals and/or those with neurological disorders.

Dr Takumi Satoh of Iwate University in Japan, and Stuart A. Lipton, MD, PhD of the Burnham Institute’s Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center discovered that carnosic acid remains harmless until needed to fight free radical damage, upon which it activates a neuroprotective signaling pathway, making it a “pathological-activated therapeutic” or PAT drug. “This new type of drug works through a mechanism known as redox chemistry in which electrons are transferred from one molecule to another in order to activate the body’s own defense system,” Dr Lipton commented. “Moreover, unlike most new drugs, this type of compound may well be safe and clinically tolerated because it is present in a naturally-occurring herb that is known to get into the brain and has been consumed by people for over a thousand years.”

Drs Satoh and Lipton have filed a patent application for a series of compounds that have demonstrated improved benefits over the rosemary herb itself. “This is not to say that Rosemary chicken is not good for you,” said Dr. Satoh, “but it means that we can do even better in protecting the brain from terrible disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease, perhaps even slowing down the effects of normal aging, by developing new and improved cousins to the active ingredient in rosemary.”