The nicotine patch, which was specially designed to help those wishing to quit smoking, seems to have failed in that task but has recorded success in helping to delay the signs of early Alzheimer's in some of its patients. The results were recorded by two studies simultaneously.
The first study was published in a journal interested in smoking and was conducted at Harvard University Journal of Tobacco Control – Harvard.
The study was originally conducted to monitor the results of attempts by 787 men and women to quit smoking by joining a special program that provides them with guidance and special means to assist in quitting smoking and protection from nicotine withdrawal symptoms in the body, including nicotine patches and gum also containing nicotine. The experiment lasted five years, and the results were disappointing as the number of those who relapsed after using the nicotine patch was equal to the same number who relapsed without using it. But what is really noteworthy is that those who tried to use the nicotine patch showed noticeable improvement in cognitive functions, most notably memory.
The second study was based on observations from the first, so Dr. Paul Newhouse from Vanderbilt University began treating 74 cases suffering from some memory problems without obvious impairment in two groups. The first group received measured doses of nicotine in the form of these patches, while the second group received empty patches in what is called placebo treatment.
After six months, patients in the first group were able to regain 46% of their mental efficiency consistent with their ages in memory tests. As for the second group, it declined by 26% compared to the rates of those of the same ages according to the study results published in the Journal of Neurology. Dr. Newhouse commented on his study’s results saying: “Previous studies have confirmed that nicotine stimulates receptors in the brain that play an important role in thinking and memory activities, and our work has confirmed this again. So why not start using nicotine in a beneficial and effective way to treat some memory disorders in the elderly after it failed to assist smokers!”.