Promising research into Alzheimer's is reported at InfoAging: The brain cells in a mouse model of Alzheimers disease (AD) recovered rapidly after the characteristic brain plaques were removed ... The researchers injected the mice with an antibody for a key component of brain plaques, the amyloid beta (Abeta) pepide. In areas where the antibodies cleared the plaques, many of the swellings observed on nerve cell branches rapidly disappeared. Prior to the experiment, many scientists believed plaque damage to nerve cells was something that only needed to happen once. The new findings suggest that the plaques might not only cause damage but also actively maintain it." This is good news for groups currently working on Alzheimer's vaccines designed to attack the plaques.
Link: http://www.infoaging.org/news_article.html?SMContentIndex=2&SMContentSet=0