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New Drug the Latest in String of Alzheimer’s Breakthroughs
July 30, 2008 05:24 PM
The drug, Rember, showed an 81 percent difference in the rate of patients’ mental decline in trials compared with those not taking the drug.
30-Second Summary
Rember, developed by U.K. scientists, works by targeting the buildup of a specific protein in the brain.
Researchers are optimistic about the findings, but say that larger trials, already planned for 2009, are needed. If the drug continues to prove successful, it could be on the market by 2012.
Professor Clive Ballard, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society in London, said that the drug trials are “the first realistic evidence that a new drug can improve cognition in people with Alzheimer’s by targeting the protein tangles that cause brain cell death.” He added that the drug could be more than twice as effective as any treatment currently available.
The drug trial is the latest in a recent string of promising Alzheimer’s discoveries. Another recent study showed that exercise may help in slowing brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients, and an earlier study showed that diabetes drugs may be useful in treating the disease.
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 26 million people worldwide. The current four drugs available help only to ease symptoms; therefore researchers are excited about Rember’s potential in slowing progress of the disease.
“These are the first very positive results I’ve seen” for halting mental decline, said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of Alzheimer’s research at the National Institute on Aging. “It’s just fantastic.”
Researchers are optimistic about the findings, but say that larger trials, already planned for 2009, are needed. If the drug continues to prove successful, it could be on the market by 2012.
Professor Clive Ballard, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society in London, said that the drug trials are “the first realistic evidence that a new drug can improve cognition in people with Alzheimer’s by targeting the protein tangles that cause brain cell death.” He added that the drug could be more than twice as effective as any treatment currently available.
The drug trial is the latest in a recent string of promising Alzheimer’s discoveries. Another recent study showed that exercise may help in slowing brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s patients, and an earlier study showed that diabetes drugs may be useful in treating the disease.
Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 26 million people worldwide. The current four drugs available help only to ease symptoms; therefore researchers are excited about Rember’s potential in slowing progress of the disease.
“These are the first very positive results I’ve seen” for halting mental decline, said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of Alzheimer’s research at the National Institute on Aging. “It’s just fantastic.”
Headline Links: New drug halts brain deterioration in Alzheimer’s disease
Methylthioninium chloride, branded as Rember, is the first drug devised to target a protein called Tau, which gets tangled up inside the nerve cells in the brain that are involved in memory, destroying them in the process.
Source: The BBC
In the trials, “321 patients were given one of three doses of Rember or dummy capsules three times a day. The capsules containing the highest dose had a flaw in formulation that kept them from working, and the lowest dose was too weak to keep the disease from worsening,” the Associated Press reports.
Source: The Miami Herald
Background: Prior Alzheimer’s studies
In a recent study, Alzheimer’s patients with better fitness scores had less shrinkage in the hippocampus region of their brains, indicating that exercise may help slow brain atrophy. The hippocampus is one of the first parts of the brain to suffer damage when a person has Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: NPR (AP)
Another study showed that diabetes drugs may be effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers believe that the drugs reduce the body’s inflammatory reaction to one of the toxic components that builds up people who have the disease.
Source: Science Daily
In January, researchers in Los Angeles experimenting with spinal injections of a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis said that it could reverse the cognitive problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The report was published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Alzheimer’s disease and medication
FindingDulcinea’s Web Guide to Alzheimer’s Disease includes information on diagnosis, treatment, research and news, and support.
Source: findingDulcinea
The National Institute on Aging provides information on the four Alzheimer’s drugs currently available: Razadyne, Exelon, Aricept and Cognex. The drugs delay or prevent Alzheimer’s symptoms from becoming worse for a limited time.
Source: National Institutes on Aging
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
