They study benefits of maca in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

In order to study alternatives to improve and delay the symptoms that Alzheimer’s patients present, the National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (Concytec), through Fondecyt, in agreement with the World Bank, has been financing a project carried out within the framework of the doctorate in Health Sciences of the Graduate School of the Catholic University of Santa María (UCSM) of Arequipa.

The subsidized project, which won the call for PhD Programs in Strategic and General Areas, consists of analyzing whether maca extracts have neuroprotective effects on the central nervous system and its processes at the molecular level (its production of Tau protein, its cytoskeleton and the interaction with the HSPA2 gene, for example). Thus, the effects of maca extracts on the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, abnormal concentrations of the Tau protein that cause toxic effects on the nervous system, will be analyzed.
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It should be noted that Alzheimer’s disease involves cognitive impairment that affects the performance of activities of daily life in the elderly, altering their mental functions such as memory, language or reasoning.

This research seeks to favor the most vulnerable populations that suffer from this disease. In Peru, mainly in Lima and Callao, more than 200 thousand older adults suffer from Alzheimer’s and it is estimated that by 2050 the figure will reach one million. In Latin America and the Caribbean more than 3.4 Millions of people live with this disorder and worldwide there are more than 46.8 million.

The doctorate funded by Concytec has the participation of researchers from Harvard University and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in the United States; as well as the Pasteur Institute and the University of Lille, France.

The doctoral program also has three other major lines of research: cancer, the microbiome and emerging public health problems in Peru (anemia, tuberculosis and Alzheimer’s or senile dementia).

The project will also seek to raise awareness about the alert for the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s: changes in the patient’s personality, impaired movement capacity, memory loss, attention and orientation problems, among others.