Existing diabetes therapies may help fight Alzheimer’s
July 16, 2006
There is a growing body of scientific evidence that
links diabetes with Alzheimer’s, and which may enable
already approved diabetes therapies to be quickly tested
for effectiveness against the deadly brain disease. New
data from drug trials and long-term population studies
were reported today in Madrid at the 10th International
Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders
(ICAD), presented by the Alzheimer’s Association.
“A connection between Alzheimer’s and diabetes has
major public health implications,” said Ronald Petersen,
M.D., Ph.D., vice chair of the Alzheimer’s Association’s
Medical & Scientific Advisory Council. “The number of
people with AD and the number that will soon get it, is
rising dramatically as the Baby Boomers turn 60, which
is approaching the age of highest risk. Will this growth be
redoubled by the rising tide of obesity and diabetes?”
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First Transdermal Patch for Alzheimer’s
Uses Already Approved Rivastigmine
July 19, 2006
Transdermal drug delivery systems (usually by drug
“patches”) are designed to provide controlled, continuous
delivery of drugs through the skin, thereby
maintaining more consistent blood levels of the drug.
Patches also minimize processing of the drug in the
liver, stomach and intestines. Together, this may make
it easier to achieve therapeutic levels of the drug in
the bloodstream with lower dosages than pills, thereby
possibly reducing side effects.
Since Alzheimer’s initially affects memory, reasoning and
decision-making abilities, it can be a problem for people
with the disease to take drugs on a regular schedule. As
the disease advances, people may not know what drugs
are for or even what they are. With further advance of
the disease, sometimes the ability to swallow is affected.
Transdermal drug delivery has the potential to eliminate
issues about forgetting to take the drug or to take it at the
right time, and also ease challenges associated with getting
the person with Alzheimer’s to take or swallow a pill.
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New Alzheimer Immunotherapy Promising in Phase 1 Trail in Humans
July 19, 2006
Immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s, sometimes referred to
as a “vaccine,” has shown great promise, though the first
major clinical trial using an active vaccination method was
marked by side effects of brain inflammation in about six
percent of participants. An active vaccination strategy is
treatment or prevention by marshalling the body’s own
disease fighting mechanism to attack the disease. This is
usually done by giving the person a low level of the disease
against which the body produces substances called antibodies
(proteins made by the immune system) that fight
the disease. A passive immunization strategy is based on
treating patients with antibodies that are manufactured.
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