Could Alzheimer's be prevented by a cream?

Research shows that using the cream once a day for just four months significantly cuts levels of a protein blamed for many of the devastating symptoms.

Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, affects around 500,000 Britons, with about 500 new cases diagnosed every day.

For some sufferers, drugs can delay the progress of symptoms such as memory loss and the erosion of the ability to do everyday things like washing and dressing.

But there is no cure for the disease, and no way of preventing its onset. But work carried out at the Sir James McCusker Foundation for Alzheimer's Research in Australia has shown that testosterone cream offers hope of stopping the condition developing.

The cream was used on otherwise healthy men with testosterone deficiency, which is thought to somehow trigger Alzheimer's in men with a genetic predisposition to the disease.

Preliminary results showed that the cream, applied daily for four months, reduced levels of the destructive beta amyloid protein by around 60 per cent in four men out of five, a conference at the Royal Society of Medicine in London has been told.

Further research will look at the effect of the cream on women - and whether it can help those who have already developed Alzheimer's.

Team leader Professor Ralph Martins stressed that his research is still at an early stage, but said it could eventually have huge implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's.

He said: "In Britain, a recent report for the Alzheimer's Society predicted the cost of long-term care for elderly people will more than double over the next 30 years. There is a clear need to both develop therapeutic strategies to delay the onset or slow its progression and to make such strategies widely available."

Professor Martins said his work was the first real evidence that testosterone lowers level of the toxic protein.

Previous research has shown that testosterone-based medication can improve the quality of life in men suffering from Alzheimer's. Rubbing a testosterone gel into the skin increased their energy levels and lifted their mood.

However, the gel did not appear to improve memory or other mental skills.

Dr Susanne Sorenson of the Alzheimer's Society said: "Exploring the possibility of a link between testosterone levels and Alzheimer's is a potentially promising avenue of research."