| There are scientific advancements that look | | | | National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the National |
| promising for controlling and preventing the onset of | | | | Institutes of Health (NIH). |
| Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is such a complex | | | | Alzhemed is being developed by Neurochem Inc. This |
| disease that most experts anticipate that a drug that | | | | company is just months away from finding out if the |
| will control the disease will very likely contain a drug | | | | drug developed by their Quebec-based company can |
| cocktail. The treatment that is only conjecture may | | | | actually slow the course of Alzheimer's disease. A |
| include a regimen of drugs that is used to treat AIDS. | | | | clinical trial of the drug will wrap up in January, with |
| The progress in the search for a cure for Alzheimer's | | | | results expected in the spring. |
| looks promising. Several Research scientists are being | | | | The company has been developing the drug for over |
| funded by The Alzheimer's Disease Association as | | | | 12 years. The focusing of the research and |
| well as additional resources from private and | | | | development team was one of the toughest |
| philanthropic organizations. Scientists are gaining | | | | challenges in medicine: keeping Alzheimer's disease |
| insights how the disease progresses in the brain. | | | | from slowly, relentlessly destroying the brain. The |
| Many Experts believe that a new generation of | | | | goal was something no drug has yet done. |
| treatments will evolve that will prevent, slow or | | | | There are also tests being conducted on a drug |
| perhaps reverse the damaging effects of Alzheimer's | | | | derived from a Chinese moss that has been used for |
| disease. | | | | more than 2,000 years in the Middle Kingdom to treat |
| The newest discovery in the Alzheimer's research | | | | fevers. Dr. Aisen, a leading researcher for Neurochem |
| community is from the UK. A team of research | | | | learned in 1999 that doctors in China had been using |
| scientist led by Dr. Emma Kidd at Cardiff University's | | | | the drug, called Huperzine A, for 20 years to relieve |
| Welsh School of Pharmacy recently completed a | | | | symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. |
| study showing that it is possible to decrease | | | | This drug is now made by Neuro-Hitech Inc. The drug |
| production of a small protein called amyloid (A*), This | | | | improves memory in much the same way as Pfizer's |
| protein is believed to be the main cause of the | | | | Aricept and other Alzheimer's treatments. However |
| disease. The research was funded by the Alzheimer's | | | | this natural derivative does not have the |
| Society, the UK's leading care and research charity | | | | gastrointestinal side effects. Aisen was most intrigued |
| for Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. | | | | by evidence that during research with mice, |
| Researchers at the University of California, Los | | | | Huperzine-A protected brain cells from the ravages |
| Angeles have discovered a new brain imaging | | | | of plaque and tangles. No other drug has been able |
| compound that shows promise by giving researchers | | | | to accomplish that feat. |
| a way to detect Alzheimer's disease earlier. This | | | | Over 12 million people worldwide suffer from |
| imaging molecule can detect and map the plaques and | | | | Alzheimer's disease. The direct and indirect cost of |
| tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer's | | | | caring for Alzheimer's victims in the United States |
| disease. | | | | alone is more than $100 billion a year. Research to |
| This discovery could eventually lead to earlier | | | | find a cure for this dreaded disease is on-going. Some |
| diagnosis of the devastating disease. The compound | | | | of the most promising information suggests that |
| is called FDDNP. FDDNP also holds promise as a | | | | strategies for maintaining a healthy lifestyle may help |
| research tool to evaluate new treatments for | | | | reduce the risks of developing this disease. |
| Alzheimer's. The study was funded in part by the | | | | |