Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease

There are more than 4.5 million Americans who currently suffer from the disorder known as Alzheimer's disease (On 2004, 37). The current generation of Alzheimer drugs were designed chiefly to treat symptoms of the disease but have little to no impact on slowing or stopping its progression. However, a new generation of drugs aimed at slowing and stopping the progression of the disease are in late phases of testing. The following drugs are in late phases of FDA testing to treat Alzheimer's disease and related disorders: acetyl-L-carnitine, beta-amyloid fibrillogenesis inhibitor (Alzhemed), cerebolysin, phenserine, xaliproden, aripiprazole (Abilify), celecoxib (Celebrex), dextromethorphan quinidine (Neurodex), donepezil (Aricept), memantine (Namenda), raloxifene (Evista), and risperidone (Risperdal), (Agents 2004). This analysis will review the results of research conducted on some of these promising new drugs, including whether or not they have been show effective to slow or prevent the progress of Alzheimer's disease.

In Alzheimer's disease, the formation of beta-amyloid is thought to be the substance that is responsible for building up and killing brain cells in people with the illness. Current generations of Alzheimer's drugs only treat symptoms but are ineffective in slowing the progression of the disease. Other hurdles in developing drugs to slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease is the difficulty in getting drugs to cross

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pezil was shown to slow the progression to Alzheimer disease in mild cognitively impaired patients. As Ronald Petersen, Mayo Clinic neurologist and lead researcher in the three-year trial, maintains, "This is the first study to demonstrate any positive treatment effect on mild cognitive impairment with respect to progression to Alzheimer's disease�We are optimistic because this means we have begun to make progress toward delaying the development of Alzheimer's disease" (Treatment 2004, 45). Despite the promising results shown by using Donepezil, the effects of the drug seem to be limited to short-term benefits. The study was conducted over a three-year period. Donepezil proved effective in delaying the development of Alzheimer's disease during the first half (18 months) of the study. As Petersen explains, "Donepezil appeared to exert its effect during the first half of the study�By the end of the study, the risk of progression to Alzheimer disease was the same among all three treatment groups" (Treatment 45). Researchers in the trial study have found no evidence for why the effects of Donepezil seem to diminish over time, but such studies hold promise that drug development will lead to drugs that slow or halt the progress o

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