Issue No.141: 3 injections. 20 years of memory returned.

Three injections. Twenty years of lost memories returned.

Scientists just reversed Alzheimer’s in mice.

The 90-year-old mice began exploring their world again like teenagers.

More than 55 million people worldwide watch loved ones disappear into dementia’s fog. Every three seconds, there’s another diagnosis. Families spend decades managing decline, watching recognition fade from familiar eyes.

Now, scientists at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) and West China Hospital may have just changed everything.

 The Breakthrough

Traditional Alzheimer’s research has mostly attacked brain plaques directly, with limited success. Drugs have managed symptoms, not causes. Decline has been seen as inevitable.

This study flips that story. Researchers developed nanoparticles, tiny, engineered particles designed to restore the brain’s natural “waste-clearing system.” 

After just three injections, the results were extraordinary:

• A 60 % reduction in toxic amyloid proteins within one hour

• The blood–brain barrier (the brain’s protective gatekeeper) began to repair itself

• Mice regained the equivalent of 20–30 years of cognitive function

Dr Lorena Ruiz Pérez, one of the study leaders, said simply:

“We didn’t manage decline. We reversed it.”

 How It Works
These weren’t drugs targeting dead neurons. The nanoparticles acted like molecular reset switches, reopening the brain’s transport highways and restoring the flow of nutrients and waste removal.

Mice that hadn’t recognised their surroundings for months suddenly began exploring again. Researchers described it as “once-lost awareness returning.”

What changed everything?

• The brain began healing itself once its highways reopened.

• Scientists targeted blood vessels, not just neurons.

• Damage was reversed, not just slowed.

• Memory returned, not merely preserved.

 Why This Matters
This discovery could redefine how we think about brain health. If proven in humans, it might mark the moment Alzheimer’s moved from being managed to being reversible.

Imagine your mother recognising you again. Your father remembering your name. Not managing decline, watching them return.

 What We Can Do Now
While these discoveries are still in the lab, they remind us how much brain health begins long before disease starts. 

There are plenty of everyday ways to support your brain’s own clean-up systems:

• Move every day. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and supports the same systems these scientists are trying to repair.

• Sleep well. The brain’s “glymphatic system” (its overnight cleaning crew) works best during deep sleep.

• Eat for your brain. Mediterranean-style diets rich in olive oil, fish, vegetables, and berries are linked with lower Alzheimer’s risk.

• Manage stress. Chronic stress can weaken the blood–brain barrier and accelerate inflammation.

• Stay socially connected and mentally active. Both are powerful protectors against cognitive decline.

At Be Well, we believe prevention, movement, and connection are the true longevity medicine. Science is now catching up to what lifestyle medicine has known all along. Healing is possible.

So, as we celebrate this stunning scientific step forward, let’s keep doing the simple, powerful things that are happening here, every day at Be Well.

See you again soon!