An insulin nasal spray has shown it can boost memory and other mental functions for people with Alzheimer's. Patients in the early stages of the disease who used the spray saw as much as a 25% improvement on tests of their mental manipulation and memory.

"Our team was surprised at the level of improvement for the participants with the gene that raises Alzheimer's risk, as very few types of therapies have been shown to benefit these patients," Dr. Suzanne Craft, professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, told Fox News.

Craft is part of the team behind the Study of Nasal Insulin in the Fight against Forgetfulness, or "SNIFF."

Insulin, which became available for medical use 92 years ago this week, is essential for managing blood sugar in the body, but it also plays a key role in brain function - allowing receptors to process memory.

"If you have Alzheimer's disease, you see specific areas of the brain that are not utilizing the sugar the way they should. That has to do with the insulin receptors," a Rush University Medical Center cognitive neurologist, Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, explained for KSFN News. "These areas of the brain now are not working."

The spray delivers insulin directly to the brain, letting those receptors start working again. And the man-made insulin used in the spray causes no side effects.

The first study only looked at 60 patients over 21 days. The SNIFF team is now looking for 250 patients from across the country for much longer trials in 29 centers across the country.

To see if you qualify for the trials, you can go to the SNIFF website.

(WATCH the video below from KSFN, or READ more from Fox.com)

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