Ground-breaking laboratory work is being carried out in Norway with exercise-mimetic anti-ageing drug treatment. The process is called ExPlas and involves taking blood plasma from fit young people who exercise regularly and transfusing it into people aged 50 – 75 who are suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. It is hoped that trial results will be available in 2025. The treatment may also prove to be useful in regenerating those who lead a sedentary life-style. There has been ongoing research around the world with regard to exercise-mimetic medications and it would have huge appeal to simply take a pill instead of having to exercise.
Several years ago it was discovered that a hormone called Irisin is released by muscles during exercise. In 2023 a Harvard Medical School research team headed up by Professor Christiane Wrann confirmed that Irisin can reach the brain and assist in clearing toxic amyloid plaques which are known to give rise to Alzheimer’s disease. Professor Wrann and some colleagues have floated a start-up company called Aevum Therapeutics which is intent on commercialising Irisin as a world first exercise based treatment. While it is unlikely that any future treatment will fully replace the advantages of exercise, current research offers hope for those who cannot or will not get physical. Other studies are focusing on how increased Irisin levels can convert normal fat cells into energy burning brown fat