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Nasal spray with synthetic insulin shows promise for Alzheimer's dementia

Dr. Suzanne Craft (background), formerly with VA and now with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been a pioneer in studying intranasal insulin as a possible therapy for Alzheimer's disease. She continues to collaborate with VA investigators.

Dr. Suzanne Craft (background), formerly with VA and now with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been a pioneer in studying intranasal insulin as a possible therapy for Alzheimer's disease. She continues to collaborate with VA investigators.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported that a synthetic form of insulin delivered by nasal spray may improve working memory and other mental capabilities in adults with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease dementia.

The paper reported on a study funded by VA and the National Institute of Aging in which 60 adult subjects took part. Twenty of the subjects received a placebo, and the other 40 were given insulin detemir, a synthetic version of human insulin, through a nasal spray. Of those, about half received 20 doses, and the other half received 40 doses, over a 21-day period.

The adults who received 40 doses for 21 days showed the most improvement in their short-term ability to retain and process verbal and visual information, and adults in that group who had a gene known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's had higher memory scores than the other subjects.

VA has conducted previous trials using insulin delivered by a nasal spray for adults, but, as far as the researchers could determine, this study is the first to use insulin detemir, which tends to be longer-lasting than regular insulin.