Possible Alzheimer's disease breakthrough

KYOTO, Japan, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Japanese researchers say they developed a compound to suppress the formation of a protein believed to cause Alzheimer's disease.

Satoru Funamoto, associate professor of neuropathology at the Doshisha University and colleagues, said they hoped the substance, which inhibits the formation of beta amyloid, might help establish preventive measures against the disease or treatment methods with fewer side effects, Kyoto News reported.

The findings, published in the online-only Nature Communications, said it might be possible to treat Alzheimer's disease by suppressing the action of enzymes involved in the formation of beta amyloid.