How Menstrual Blood May Be the Way Forward for Treating Alzheimer’s and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases
By: Jahanvi Chawla // February 2026
Could biological waste be used for treating neurodegenerative diseases in the future? New research connecting the use of menstrual blood stem cells in treating Alzheimer’s disease suggests it might.
About 1 in 9 people live with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States with this number being projected to grow as the 65 and older population increases. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition in which harmful proteins build up in the brain, damaging and killing neurons and causing the brain to shrink. This leads to worsening memory and communication as key brain chemicals decline.
Current treatments for Alzheimer’s only aim to control the progression of the disease in early stages and improve quality of life. These immunotherapy drugs help reduce amyloid plaques in the brain, but lose their effectiveness as the disease progresses. Stem Cell therapy, on the other hand, has proven effective in reducing these plaques, fighting neuroinflammation, and even reversing the progression of the disease through replacing damaged neurons. No FDA approved treatments exist as of now, but research is ongoing.
Stem cells are typically derived through invasive procedures in adults or through embryos which is considered unethical. To overcome these barriers scientists have found that Menstrual Blood Stem Cells or MenSCs are an adequate alternative as they are pluripotent and able to develop similarly as a treatment. A recent study found that MenSCs when transplanted directly into the brains of AD model mice were able to help treat Alzheimer’s disease. These cells helped improve spatial learning and memory, reducing Amyloid plaque levels and reducing inflammation in the brain. Additionally, researchers believe that MenSCs may work not only by replacing damaged neurons, but also by restoring and balancing the brain’s immune system. Beyond effectiveness, MenSCs offer several practical and ethical advantages over other stem cell sources and provide a non-invasive and renewable source of stem cells.
Despite these results, major challenges remain before these therapies can be used in humans. If future research confirms their safety and effectiveness, MenSCs could represent a major shift in how neurodegenerative diseases are treated.
Sources:
Bhatti, J. S., Khullar, N., Mishra, J., Kaur, S., Sehrawat, A., Sharma, E., Bhatti, G. K., Selman, A., & Reddy, P. H. (2023). Stem cells in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease – Promises and pitfalls. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Basis of Disease, 1869(6), 166712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2023.166712
Liu, X. Y., Yang, L. P., & Zhao, L. (2020). Stem cell therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. World journal of stem cells, 12(8), 787–802. https://doi.org/10.4252/wjsc.v12.i8.787
Zhang, M. J., Liu, B., Xia, W., Sun, Z.-Y., & Lu, K.-H. (2009). Could cells from menstrual blood be a new source for cell-based therapies? Medical Hypotheses, 72(3), 252–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2008.10.021
Zhao, Y., Chen, X., Wu, Y., Wang, Y., Li, Y., & Xiang, C. (2018). Transplantation of Human Menstrual Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Alleviates Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice. Frontiers in molecular neuroscience, 11, 140. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00140