A major breakthrough in the war against Alzheimer's disease may pave the way for one of the most effective treatments to date. A team of scientists say they have successfully reversed the disease in mice.

Many more trials, tests, and hours of research remain before their method can be tried on humans, but it's an historic step in the right direction.

The researchers, based at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, found that by gradually reducing an enzyme in the brain called BACE1, they reversed the formation of amyloid plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer's disease, improving their cognitive function. The scientists hope that this research will eventually produce drugs aimed at this enzyme in human brains.

"To our knowledge, this is the first observation of such a dramatic reversal of amyloid deposition in any study of Alzheimer's disease mouse models," says researcher Riqiang Yan in a news release by the Rockefeller University press.