Healthcare News

Despite being a popular flower on an aesthetic level, daffodils may also be pleasing for scientists, who have linked the plant's properties to the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

Despite being a popular flower on an aesthetic level, daffodils may also be pleasing for scientists, who have linked the plant's properties to the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

Galantamine has been proven to delay the symptoms of the condition, yet is a chemical so rare that it is as valuable as gold on a pound-to-pound ratio.

However, this property is only found in the plants which are more common in Wales, with a specialist organisation - Alzheim - producing 60 acres of daffodils a year near Powys to obtain the properties required to help with research into the disease.

Commenting on the development, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society Neil Hunt told the Daily Mail: "This new method of using daffodils may not benefit people with Alzheimer's in the short term but new techniques that help drive the cost of Alzheimer's drugs down is an important investment for the future."

According to the Alzheimer's Society, the disease causes changes to the chemistry and structure of the brain, resulting in the death of the cells and resulting in memory loss.

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