Alzheimer’s drug may help Down syndrome kids

Medications that have been slowing the mental decline in Alzheimer’s patients are showing promise as drugs that can boost the mental skills of children with Down Syndrome.

Two of those promising drugs are Aricept and Exelon, which were found to increase skill levels of Down syndrome children in small clinical trials. Aricept and Exelon are FDA-approved drugs for treating Alzheimer’s. Doctors had observed that adults with Down Syndrome were developing Alzheimer’s disease at an earlier age than the general population. The drugs were given to children, in appropriate doses, to test if they could delay the development of the illness. The results surprised the physicians.

In a very short period of time, the children’s communication skills and understanding improved. Dr. John Boeren says –

"It wasn’t tremendous. It’s not life-altering — yet, in a way it is. If you have a child that is maybe functioning on a 5-year-old level and you get him up to a level of a 7-year-old, that’s a big difference as far as what he can do for himself, how well he can communicate with the family and so on."

So now a new clinical study is underway to test this finding in a larger sample of children – more than 2,000 around the country. Called the Down Syndrome Clinical Study, Dr. Boeren is one of many doctors who are looking for participants. The double-blind study will involved getting a child to take either a placebo or an Alzheimer’s drug for three months. Blood tests will be done the child evaluated for increased cognitive skills. The name of the drug can not be revealed, but it is an FDA-approved Alzheimer’s medication that is in widespread use.

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