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

The drug, rember, slows progression of the disease by as much as 81%, a British-led study 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 acts on the tau tangles that develop in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Made up of the protein tau, they form inside nerve cells in the brain, and first destroy nerve cells linked to memory, then destroy neurons in other parts of the brain.

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

The study was carried out by Professor Claude Wischik and colleagues 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.”

The study focused on 321 people with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s disease in the UK and Singapore. Those on rember did not experience a significant decline in their mental function over 19 months while those on placebo got worse.

If a further trial proves successful, the drug could be available by 2012.

A trial on people with Parkinson’s disease could also be in the pipeline.

(c) 2008 Evening Gazette – Middlesbrough. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.