A six month multi-nation study involving over 300 patients with severe Alzheimer’s disease ‘…found that cognitive function stabilized or improved in 63 percent of people taking donepezil in comparison to 39 percent of people taking placebo. In comparison to the placebo group, those taking donepezil showed improvement in memory, language, attention, and recognizing ones name. The donepezil group also showed less of a decline in social interaction, skills needed to complete a jigsaw puzzle, and arranging sentences in comparison to the placebo group.’(reference)
Results of the study were published in the July 31, 2007 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of …read more

Medication for Alzheimer’s patients is becoming easier to administer with the introduction of the Exelon patch. The transdermal patch excretes the medications in the patient’s body through the skin over a period of 24 hours.
Aimed at helping those with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, the patch is believed to cause less side effects than oral drugs.

Commonly Used Pain Medications Do Not Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease – a study recently published in Neurology (scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology) finds that pain medications such as celecoxib and naproxen do not prevent Alzheimer’s disease. This is a direct contradiction to an early study that indicated that the use of these types of drugs (nonsteriodal anti-inflammatory drugs) may provide protection against Alzheimer’s disease.
Potential of Exelon Patch As Promising Treatment Approach For Alzheimer’s Disease Patients and Their Families – the first skin patch for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease looks promising according to a study published in the …read more

A five year study conducted by King’s College London (funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust) into the use of neuroleptic sedatives for Alzheimer’s patients with behavioral problems has found that these drugs ‘…were linked with a significant increase in long-term mortality – with patients dying on average six months earlier.’
The study involved 165 Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes who had been given sedative drugs such as Haloperidol (Serenace), Chlorpromazine (Largactil), Thioridazine (Melleril), Trifluoperazine (Stelazine), and Risperidone (Risperdal) for at least three months.
In the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Press Release (April 2, 2007) Professor Clive Ballard, Professor of Age Related Disorders at …read more

Sarasota’s Roskamp Institute Announces Positive Safety Data in Human Clincal Study For Alzheimer’s Disease – The Roskamp Institute announced this month that it has had positive preliminary results in it’s first human clinical study of the drug Nilvadipine. In pre-clinical trials, Nilvadipine was found to decrease the level of beta amyloid, a protein believed to cause the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Head injuries and Alzheimer’s – Looks at the research that has been done on the relationship between head injuries and dementia.
Old study Could Aid Mental Health – Help the Aged, a charity in Scotland, believes that a 60 year old …read more

Because the British government has decided some drugs used for Alzheimer’s (in some cases delaying the symptoms) are not cost effective, they’ve issued restrictions on them.  The Alzheimer’s Society is challenging this decision legally.  Today, the Daily Mail newspaper launched a campaign to raise funds to aid the Alzheimer’s Society in this campaign.
In another article in the Daily Mail, writer Rosie Boycott relates, “What price my father’s dignity?” ,her father’s battle with Alzheimer’s and tells how Aricept, one of the drugs now restricted, helped her father continue a more normal life for about a year longer.  Ms. Boycott also tells a …read more