• Scientists find sodium selenate as a potential treatment for dementia
• The latest study found that the drug is capable of slowing down brain shrinkage in affected individuals
• The trial comes amid other research that is analyzing the effects of various medications on neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists conducted a study that suggests sodium selenate could be a potential treatment for dementia, specifically behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, the condition's second-most common form in people under 60s.

They found that the drug is capable of slowing down the condition, resulting in the stabilization of otherwise escalating behavioral issues. It is also capable of slowing brain shrinkage in patients that are affected by the condition.

Sodium Selenate Could be Potential Dementia Treatment

The latest study is only the second clinical trial that shows sodium selenate could be useful in slowing cognitive decline and preventing or limiting neurodegenerative damage. These factors are the hallmark of many dementias, including Alzheimer's Disease.

Scientists note that behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a rapidly progressing destructive disease. They said that it occurs in people as young as 35 years old and is characterized by behavioral disturbances and changes in an individual's personality, as per SciTechDaily.

Experts argue that the condition is highly disruptive and distressing to patients and their families. Currently, no treatments or cures are available for bvFTD, and scientists note that typical survival is five to seven years from diagnosis.

Scientists who conducted the Phase 1 trial, which was run in conjunction with the Royal Melbourne Hospital, discovered that sodium selenate was safe and that it was well-tolerated by the majority of patients involved in the study over a period of 12 months.

Furthermore, most of the patients who received the drug did not show any change in their cognitive or behavioral symptoms. The trial, led by Dr. Lucy Vivash from Monash University's Department of Neuroscience, had its results published in the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia: Transnational Research and Clinical Interventions.

The study comes alongside other research looking into the effectiveness of other popular drugs in preventing cognitive decline and dementia. These include drugs used for diabetes and weight loss, according to Healthline.

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Other Research

A team of researchers is analyzing the effects of semaglutide drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, on cognitive decline. These drugs belong to a class of medications called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists.

They work by altering an individual's metabolic system and lowering inflammation. Scientists have suspected that this phenomenon could help slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.

While trials analyzing these drugs' effectiveness on neurodegenerative conditions are underway, results are not expected to come until 2025. However, given the treatments' ability to curb inflammation, health experts argue that they could be helpful in protecting people's cognition.

Dementia occurs when previously-healthy neurons in a person's brain stop working, lose connections with other brain cells, and die off. Signs and symptoms of the disease vary and include memory loss, poor judgment, difficulty in speaking, repeating questions, and hallucinations.

Scientists are also trying to determine just how the underlying disease processes in the various forms of dementia begin and start to influence one another. Experts are also trying to analyze the different kinds of disorders and disease processes that are known to be capable of contributing to dementia, said the National Institute of Health.

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