(SNS News Service - Shomron-Israel) A chemical found in hyssop plants
grown in China may serve as the basis for the newest medication to treat
Alzheimer's disease, according to Israeli researchers. Alzheimer's is a
neurological ailment which mostly attacks the elderly. Its main symptoms
are the destruction of brain cells and the loss of memory.
The researchers, from the Weizmann Institute of Science at Rechovot,
discovered that the chemical found in the plant, called Kian-Sheng-Ta in
Chinese ("ayzov" in Hebrew) is capable of linking up with an important
enzyme in the brain involved in nerve communication.
The Israeli team, including Professors Yoel Zusman and Yisrael Silman, and
Drs. Michal Harel and Maya Revas, discovered that this Chinese plant is
capable of strengthening the memory. (Information Division, Israel Foreign
Ministry..1/20).
