Drug Combo Slows Alzheimer's Disease
Jan. 20, 2004 -- A combination drug treatment looks promising for people with advancing Alzheimer's disease -- greatly aiding memory, speech, and overall functioning in daily life.
The study, which appears in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is the first to combine two drugs FDA-approved for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
"It was really unexpected good news," researcher Pierre N. Tariot, MD, a psychiatrist and neurologist with the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., tells WebMD.
"Instead of declining week by week by week, the progression of decline was slowed considerably," he says. "But we should be clear -- this isn't a cure, it isn't a reversal. These are modest gains that translate into meaningful quality of life."
Until last year, drugs such as donepezil were the only medications for people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. They work by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine, a chemical involved in learning and memory.
Unfortunately, upwards of 25% of Alzheimer's patients have gastrointestinal troubles with these drugs -- so they can't take them long-term, explains Tariot.
Memantine, which was FDA-approved late last year, is for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's. It belongs to a new class of medications known as N-methyl-p-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists -- which means it inhibits certain brain receptors, thereby protecting brain cells against damage that leads to worsening Alzheimer's.
"The tolerability rate for memantine is considerably better," says Tariot. "That's the other good news, that this provides another option for people who cannot tolerate cholinergic inhibitors."
The study, which appears in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is the first to combine two drugs FDA-approved for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
"It was really unexpected good news," researcher Pierre N. Tariot, MD, a psychiatrist and neurologist with the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., tells WebMD.
"Instead of declining week by week by week, the progression of decline was slowed considerably," he says. "But we should be clear -- this isn't a cure, it isn't a reversal. These are modest gains that translate into meaningful quality of life."
Brain Chemistry of Alzheimer's
Until last year, drugs such as donepezil were the only medications for people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. They work by inhibiting the breakdown of acetylcholine, a chemical involved in learning and memory.
Unfortunately, upwards of 25% of Alzheimer's patients have gastrointestinal troubles with these drugs -- so they can't take them long-term, explains Tariot.
Memantine, which was FDA-approved late last year, is for patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's. It belongs to a new class of medications known as N-methyl-p-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists -- which means it inhibits certain brain receptors, thereby protecting brain cells against damage that leads to worsening Alzheimer's.
"The tolerability rate for memantine is considerably better," says Tariot. "That's the other good news, that this provides another option for people who cannot tolerate cholinergic inhibitors."
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