Three novel therapies could slow progress of Alzheimer's

WASHINGTON -- Several experimental therapies seemed to slow the mental confusion or helped improve daily functioning in Alzheimer's patients, according to small studies released today.

The findings presented here Monday at the first Alzheimer's Association International Conference on the Prevention of Dementia suggest that drugs in the pipeline might provide a bigger benefit to Alzheimer's patients than currently available therapies. Those therapies treat the symptoms of memory loss but don't stop the relentless progression of the disease, says Steven DeKosky, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Researchers at the meeting reported being able to identify changes in the brain that presage the development of Alzheimer's by about a decade. If so, neurologists may soon be able to head off the disease -- before irreversible damage occurs, DeKosky says.

"The hope is that by treating people early, we will slow the progress of the disease so much that they will be able to live a normal life for much longer," says Alzheimer's researcher Gordon Wilcock of the University of Bristol in England.

Wilcock reported results from a study of 207 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's who took an experimental version of a pain drug called R-flurbiprofen. After a year, Wilcock found a benefit in 29 out of 48 people with mild disease who also had the highest levels of drug in their bloodstream: These patients had a significant improvement in their ability to carry out daily tasks.

But the study failed to show a statistically significant boost in their ability to reason or remember, he says.

Also at the meeting, Marc Weksler of the Weill Medical College of Cornell University reported that the drug intravenous immunoglobin (IVIg) seemed to boost thinking ability in a study of eight people with Alzheimer's. IVIg contains human antibodies, including antibodies primed to attack beta amyloid, the abnormal brain protein thought to underlie Alzheimer's.

In a third study, Suzanne Craft of the University of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Medical Center tested the ability of insulin, used to treat diabetics, to boost memory. Insulin is thought to help brain cells work better, and people with Alzheimer's may not have enough insulin in the brain.

Craft's team sprayed insulin into the nasal passages of 26 people with memory problems, including those with Alzheimer's. In some cases, insulin dramatically improved their ability to recall a list of words or a passage from a story.

All three drugs offer a potentially novel way of attacking Alzheimer's, says Neil Buckholtz of the National Institute on Aging. But he cautions that scientists must confirm these early findings from small trials with additional studies, including trials that involve hundreds of patients.

If such testing goes well, researchers may be ready to roll out new therapies for Alzheimer's within five years, Wilcock predicts.

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