Piercing the thick haze of gloom a new ray of hope has entered the lives of millions of people who are mentally retarded. Actually, in a major breakthrough researchers found that mentally retarded lab mice with Down syndrome got smarter after they were given drug called, pentylenetetrazole or PTZ for 17 days. Interestingly, all PTZ-fed mice improved amazingly and were able to recognize objects and navigate mazes in the same way as normal mice did. According to researchers, this improvement lasted up to two months after the drug was discontinued.
Down syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 and this syndrome occurs in one of 660 births, which usually cause cognitive deficits, cardiac problems and physical abnormalities, such as low muscle tone, short stature and an upward slant to the eyes.
This finding is really significant as according to an estimate, America alone has about 300,000 people with Down syndrome and more worrying is the fact that by now there is no effective remedy available to get rid of this syndrome.
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Via: LA Times
