Drug "breakthrough" for Alzheimer's?

Today, hundreds of doctors, researchers and reporters will be heading home from Chicago to recover from a week of networking at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease. Scientists often use conferences to show off early results from their research, which is why so many stories about new Alzheimer's drugs have been in the press this week.

There are good reasons for all the new research. Alzheimer's disease affects more than 4 million Americans, but there's still no cure. Current treatments can help with some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's, but the benefits are limited.

It's always tempting to be optimistic when a new drug is hyped by the media as a "breakthrough." But there's often a big gap between hope and reality.

Two Alzheimer's drugs presented at the conference are methylthioninium chloride (its brand name is Rember) and PBT2. Both of these drugs have shown some promise, but they're still in phase II trials. Phase II trials look at how well a treatment works for a couple of hundred people. If a drug is successful at this stage, and there are no major side effects, it can progress to large-scale tests. If the drug is shown to work, its manufacturer can then apply to the FDA to get it approved for sale.

As you can see, lots of things need to happen between phase II trials and a drug being available to treat patients. It can take years, and there's no guarantee that the drug will ever be available at all. So, while Rember and PBT2 offer hope for the future, they're unlikely to be available outside clinical trials for some time yet.

Another possibility is to look at existing drugs to see if they can help people with Alzheimer's. For example, drugs called statins help people with unhealthy levels of cholesterol. And angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) help to bring down high blood pressure.

Two new studies have looked at people taking statins or ARBs to treat their high cholesterol or blood pressure. These people also seemed to get some protection against Alzheimer's. However, we need more research to find out whether these drugs really do prevent Alzheimer's.

Current treatments for Alzheimer's include donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine, and memantine. These drugs can help with symptoms such as forgetfulness and confusion, although the benefits are small. And there's limited research to show that an herbal remedy called ginkgo biloba may help a little.

What you need to know. Existing treatments for Alzheimer's can help with some of the symptoms, but they're not a cure. Drugs in development offer hope for the future, but there can be a long wait between the first studies and a new treatment hitting the market.

—Philip Wilson, patient editor, BMJ Group

ConsumerReportsHealth.org has partnered with The BMJ Group to monitor the latest medical research and assess the evidence to help you decide which news you should use.

Read our Treatment Ratings for Alzheimer's (subscribers only), check out our Natural Medicine Ratings for ginkgo biloba (subscribers only), and find out how to save money on your Alzheimer's drugs (free).

Comments

[R. Gore]

Alzheimers is a "family" disease affecting many others long term besides the actual patient. No other disease creates the mental, financial and physical stress for an AD family - not even cancer.
At least there are now some cures for certain cancers.
Many families with and Alz member would like to see availability of trials to larger numbers of volunteers.
Why not allow those who want the drugs to get Rember and PBT2
if they want to take their chances with something that might work?
Desperate families, and even patients who are still able to make decisions, would be willing to sign no fault agreements or
whatever necessary to get a chance for help.

[Alzheimer's Team]

I always enjoy your blog.