A small study has had exciting results showing that memory loss in patients can be reversed and even retaining the improvement over a long period of time.

Researchers from UCLA and the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing in California conducted the study on 10 patients experiencing age-related decline who were involved in personalized lifestyle changes and treatments over a five to 24 month period.

According to Science Daily, the treatment involved a complex 36-point program that included lifestyles changes such as diet, exercise, sleep opitmization and medication that was personalized for each patient. The findings were significant with some patients even returning to work and improving performance. Author of the study,Dale Bredesen, MD, a professor at the Buck Institute, says there were promising changes in some of the patients involved.

“All of these patients had either well-defined mild cognitive impairment (MCI), subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) or had been diagnosed with AD before beginning the program. Follow up testing showed some of the patients going from abnormal to normal.”

The treatment was based on other successful combination treatments commonly used for cancers and heart disease. Exercise has long been known to help with preventing dementia and maintaining cognitive function but combining this with diet and a combination of latest medicines could be the key in restoring already detected decline.

With Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline listed as a major concern to many, the results could pose an answer to those 5 million Americans and 30 million worldwide currently suffering from the disease.

“The magnitude of the improvement is unprecedented, providing additional objective evidence that this programmatic approach to cognitive decline is highly effective.”

The study was published in the journal Aging.