Could this human waste product be used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease?

By Elizabeth Pratt | Fact-checked by Davi Sherman
Published January 20, 2025

Key Takeaways

Industry Insights

  • "Currently, there are no FDA-approved stem cell therapies for patients with Alzheimer's disease. So far, stem cells have not yet been shown to be safe and effective for patients with Alzheimer's disease." –Irina Skylar Scott, MD

  • “If stem cells are unable to help people grow hair, there is no expectation that stem cells will be clinically used to treat any central nervous system disease like strokes or dementia.” –Clifford Segil, DO

Stem cells found in menstrual blood may one day be beneficial for Alzheimer's treatment, but experts say that it is a long way off from being used in clinical practice.

Studies in mice suggest that intracerebral transplantation of human menstrual blood-derived stem cells ameliorate amyloid plaques and improve memory.[]

Human menstrual blood-derived stem cell transplantation “can ameliorate AD [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology and cognitive deficits in a transgenic mouse model of AD … these findings suggest that MenSCs [human menstrual blood-derived stem cells] are a promising therapeutic candidate for AD,” the authors of a 2018 study write.

In the 2018 study, human menstrual blood-derived stem cells were transplanted into mice. The mice were then placed in a maze to test their spatial learning and memory function.

The researchers found that the mice given the stem cell transplant were protected against cognitive decline and memory deficits.

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A long way from clinical practice

Experts say that, while the findings are interesting, they are likely a long way from being used in clinical practice.

“As a practicing clinical neurologist, I am eager for stem cell or exosome therapies to work and to use them one day. Unfortunately, in the year 2025, stem cell treatments remain unable to treat something as simple as hair loss or alopecia in humans. If stem cells are unable to help people grow hair, there is no expectation that stem cells will be clinically used to treat any central nervous system disease like strokes or dementia,” Clifford Segil DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, tells MDLinx.

"There should be no correlation that this mouse research has any relevance for humans. "

Clifford Segil, DO

“The researchers in this study gave mice menstrual blood, and these animals did better in a water maze. It is hard to say [that] this has any relevance for humans at this time. Giving mice sugar may have equally improved their performance in a water maze,” Dr. Segil adds.

Questions remain unanswered

There is a growing body of research investigating how stem cells may be useful in treating Alzheimer’s disease.[] But experts say that there are still many unanswered questions.

“Stem cells may release signals that affect other cells—for example, activate microglia cells that are involved in clearing amyloid—but we don't know if that's the case. This cell-to-cell signaling is called ‘paracrine signaling.’ If it is true, we don't know what the signals are, and we haven't confirmed what cells are affected,” Irina Skylar-Scott, a cognitive and behavioral neurologist and clinical assistant professor at Stanford University, tells MDLinx.

"Currently, there are no FDA-approved stem cell therapies for patients with Alzheimer's disease."

Irina Skylar-Scott, MD

“So far, stem cells have not yet been shown to be safe and effective for patients with Alzheimer's disease. However, it's important to study novel mechanisms that can lead to new therapies for our patients. Our patients are looking for any ounce of hope and depend on us to find new safe, efficacious treatments,” Dr. Skylar-Scott says.

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