According to the findings of a new US research published in the journal Science, skin cancer drug ‘bexarotene’, which is marketed as Targretin, has reversed Alzheimer's in mice; thereby increasing the chances of similar success against the terminal disease in humans.

With researchers’ testing of bexarotene on the mice – which were engineered to exhibit Alzheimer's symptoms like forgetfulness and rapid cell death - having shown that the drug cleared the destructive plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers at an “unprecedented” pace, families of Alzheimer’s patients are now clamoring for the drug.

Since the tests on mice showed that bexarotene was effective in breaking down the plaques in the mice at a notably fast speed, physicians have virtually been flooded with the requests for the drug by the families of people suffering from Alzheimer’s.

The researchers – from the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio – found that when the mice exhibiting Alzheimer’s symptoms were administered bexarotene, they became smarter almost instantly; and not only did they perform better in tests, but also showed memory retention as well as improved social behavior.

Noting that that within hours of being given the drug, the destructive brain plaque which was causing Alzheimer's in the mice started disappearing, lead researcher Gary Landreth told AFP: “We were shocked and amazed. Things like this had never, ever been seen before.”