Low Doses of Ionizing Radiation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia, with no cure or disease-modifying therapy currently available.
In 2015, a woman with severe AD showed remarkable improvements after repeated CT scans delivering low doses of ionizing radiation.
This led to a pilot study testing low-dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) on four patients with advanced AD.
Each patient received three brain CT scans at doses around 40–80 mGy, spaced two weeks apart.
Qualitative observations from families noted improvements in alertness, communication, mood, and functional behaviors.
Quantitative tests (Severe Impairment Battery, Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Index, Alzheimer Disease Functional Assessment and Change Scale) showed only minor or inconsistent improvements.
Three of the four patients showed subjective improvements; one patient showed no change.
LDIR is hypothesized to stimulate the body’s adaptive protection systems, reducing oxidative stress linked to AD.
Study limitations include small sample size, lack of placebo control, and insufficient sensitivity of quantitative measures.
Authors conclude that LDIR may be a promising but controversial therapy, and recommend larger, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with biological markers.