Drug is Hailed As Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Battle

A NEW drug could prove at least twice as effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease as current medicines, according to new research.

The drug, rember, slows progression of the disease by asmuch as 81%, a British-led study published last night found.

People taking it for 50 weeks had a slower decline in blood flow to the parts of the brain that are important for memory than those taking a dummy pill.

Rember is the first drugto act on the tau tangles that develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Such tangles aremade up of the protein, tau, and form inside nerve cells in the brain.

These tangles first destroy the nerve cells linked to memory and then destroy neurons in other parts of the brain as the disease progresses.

Experts yesterday hailed the research as a major development in the fight against Alzheimer’s, which affects about 350,000 people in the UK.

The study was carried out by ProfessorClaudeWischik andcolleagues at the University of Aberdeen.

Prof Wischik, who co-founded TauRx Therapeutics, which is developing the treatment, said: “This is an unprecedented result in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

“We have demonstrated for the first time that itmay be possible to arrest progressionof the diseaseby targeting the tangles which are highly correlated with the disease.

“This is the most significant development in the treatment of the tangles since Alois Alzheimer discovered them in 1907.”

The study, which is being presentedat the InternationalConference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago, focused on 321 people with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s disease intheUKand Singapore.

They were divided into four groups, three taking different dosesof rember andafourthgroup acting as placebo.

Experts found there were significant differences 24 weeks into the study between the groups only in relationto peoplewithmoderate Alzheimer’s.

But after 50 weeks, those with both mild and moderate Alzheimer’s who were taking rember experienced an 81% reduction in mental decline compared with those on the placebo.

(c) 2008 Western Mail. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.