The surprising link between daffodils and Alzheimer’s
Britain is still in the dregs of winter, but the first hints of spring are starting to emerge as bright, cheerful daffodils come into season.
These sunny blooms typically start making an appearance in February and the season can last until May, depending on the daffodil variety and weather conditions. This year, The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is encouraging flower enthusiasts to help map daffodils across the UK.
The gardening charity has launched its Daffodil Diaries project to map the iconic spring flower across the UK and locate rare varieties. The three rare types of daffodils that the RHS are especially keen for members of the public to find are the pink Mrs RO Backhouse daffodils, the white double-flowered Mrs William Copeland daffodils, and the yellow and orange Sussex bonfire daffodils.
Beyond their beauty, daffodils also have a surprisingly important role to play in treating Alzheimer’s disease. A company in Wales has been harvesting the country’s national flower to extract a compound that can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s symptoms.
Daffodils contain galantamine, a plant alkaloid used clinically for treating early-stage Alzheimer’s. Agroceutical Products, the bioresearch company based in Powys, grows daffodils 1,000 feet above sea level in the Black Mountains.
This means that daffodils grown in this area produce more galantamine than if they were grown anywhere else due to the altitude. Former sheep farmer Kevin Stephens began growing them in 2008 after reading research from a scientist named Professor Trevor Walker about their benefits.
The daffodils get processed to extract the galantamine, which then gets supplied to pharmaceutical companies to be transformed into prescription tablets and capsules.
In 2019, Stephens said: "It’s amazing to think that the Welsh national emblem, the humble daffodil, has the potential to improve the lives of Alzheimer’s patients across the world, while providing an economic future for hill farmers and their families across Wales.
"There has been a greater interest in plant-based pharmaceuticals in recent years and there are many untapped plant compounds that could become very important drugs in years to come."
Daffodils are a particularly good crop to grow as grazing animals don’t eat them. According to New Scientist, the alkaloid in the bulbs of plants like daffodils and snowdrops causes nausea in any animal that tries to eat them.
While a similar side effect is seen in some patients treated with high doses of purified galantamine, the publication said that other patients showed "significant improvement in several measures of brain function used to assess the progress of Alzheimer’s".
Alzheimer’s affects an estimated 982,000 people in the UK. While scientists still don’t know the exact cause of Alzheimer’s, one feature of the disease is the loss of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which is essential for processing memory and learning.
Studies show that the compound found in daffodils, and some other similar plants, helps to reduce the loss of this neurotransmitter. It does this by increasing acetylcholine levels in the brain, which helps to improve cognitive function and memory.
So when you’re out logging daffodils for the RHS this spring, remember just how important the humble daffodil is in the battle against Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Read more about Alzheimer's:
Chris Hemsworth's high-protein meal plan that can 'help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's' (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Study reveals how long people with dementia live after diagnosis (PA Media, 4-min read)
Is it really possible to have Alzheimer’s yet no symptoms? (The Conversation, 3-min read)
