A small trial found that a low daily dose of rapamycin for four weeks increased cerebral blood flow in healthy middle-aged carriers of the APOE4 gene variant, who face a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. The improvement was most pronounced in female participants. Reduced brain blood flow often appears years before cognitive symptoms emerge.
It is an interesting intersection of anti-aging research and preventative neurology, though four weeks is a very short window for a chronic condition. We still do not know if these vascular changes translate into delayed onset of Alzheimer's, or what the long-term effects of daily rapamycin use might be in healthy populations. For now, it is a narrow physiological signal rather than a treatment.
Leave a comment