EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 5 (UPI) -- Scottish researchers said a drug derived from liquorice may boost brain function and slow age-related memory loss.
The drug, carbenoxolone, which is traditionally used to soothe ulcers, improves mental functioning in healthy elderly men and cognitively impaired diabetic patients, said the researchers, from the University of Edinburgh.
The researchers said the drug slows the sort of memory decline that occurs with normal aging, the online version of the British journal Nature reported. It may, for example, help people to remember random words or recall what they did at the weekend.
It also could slow the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, although this has yet to be tested, they said. The early stages of dementia are indistinguishable from normal memory loss, so the drug could be given to stave off symptoms.
In the study, 10 healthy elderly men, without any memory impairment, took carbenoxolone three times a day. Four weeks later, the subjects performed about 10 percent better on tests of the ability to use and recall certain words than non-medicated controls.
