Posts tagged alzheimer’s
NICE decision on Alzheimer’s Drugs to Benefit Thousands
The Alzheimer’s Research Trust has welcomed the NICE decision to extend the availability of Alzheimer’s drugs.
Three drugs currently used for moderate Alzheimer’s will now be available to treat mild stages of the disease as well.
As part of the latest guidance NICE used a new economic model and found the drugs to be cost-effective. Previously, donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Reminyl) and rivastigmine (Exelon) were only routinely available through the NHS for moderate stage Alzheimer’s. The new recommendation means thousands in the early stages of the disease could benefit from the treatment. People taking the drugs can experience improvements in thinking, memory and communication.
NICE also recommends memantine for people with severe Alzheimer’s. The treatment, which has not previously been available on NHS prescription, can help people with their day to day symptoms. The Alzheimer’s Research Trust has long been calling for fair access to drugs that can benefit people at all stages of the disease
Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, “This welcome decision gives everyone living with Alzheimer’s the best possible chance of benefiting from the treatments we have available. These drugs hold the promise of relief from the symptoms of Alzheimer’s for thousands of people and, while not the cure we desperately need, they can still he lp.
“It’s an irony that clinical research of the kind that has helped realise the benefits of drugs like these remains sorely underfunded in the UK. If we are to produce treatments that can alter the course of Alzheimer’s disease itself, rather than just temporary relief from symptoms, then research is our only answer.”
Slow protein clearance ‘clue to Alzheimer’s’
Scientists suggest people with Alzheimer’s disease clear a damaging protein from their brains more slowly than those who are healthy.
It was already known that the beta-amyloid protein built up in the brains of people with the condition.
But the US study in Science suggests it is the poor clearance of the protein, not the build-up, that is the problem.
UK experts said the study of 24 people was small, but exciting, and could help understanding of the disease.
The ageing population means that dementia, including Alzheimer’s, is currently seen as one of the main health challenges in the UK.
Numbers affected are set to soar – figures suggest that more than a million people will have developed the disease before 2025.
Building blocks (more…)
Un-rap the Wrinkly Rappers for Christmas!
The Wrinkly Rappers, of Britain’s Got Talent fame, are encouraging everyone to buy their ‘well cool’ Christmas CD, Wrinkly Rappers Unrapped, to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
Brenda Brooks (dangerously close to 60) and Belinda Marks (knocking on 50), both from Somerset, aim to make people laugh and prove older people have fun too! By day Brenda is an accounts and personnel manager while Belinda a therapist and carer, but after hours they get decked out in their street gear – hoodies, baggy jeans, baseball caps and loads of bling – and dazzle audiences as the Wrinkly Rappers with their ‘wicked’ moves and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. (more…)
New Treatment Target for Alzheimer’s
US scientists have found that boosting levels of a protein, EphB2, improves nerve cell function and memory in mice with Alzheimer’s. Their findings, published in Nature, highlight potential new treatment targets.
EphB2 amounts are abnormally low in an area of the brain responsible for memory in mice with Alzheimer’s, as well as people with the disease. The researchers showed how amyloid, the toxic protein that builds during Alzheimer’s, interacts with EphB2 causing it to be broken down.
The authors suggest that either boosting EphB2 or stopping amyloid from binding to it provides potential approaches to treating Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)
Diabetes Drug Could Treat Alzheimer’s
New American research claims that a drug commonly used in the treatment of type two diabetes can help treat Alzheimer’s disease.
In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, researchers found that metformin can reduce the amount of the abnormal tau protein in the brains of mice.
Healthy nerve cells produce tau but in Alzheimer’s, the abnormal form is produced which does not function correctly. (more…)
Old Masters Inspire Alzheimer’s Groups
People with dementia have been encouraged to engage with art through a joint project by the National Gallery and Alzheimer’s Society.
The project was organised and funded by Credit Suisse who partner with the National Gallery, and support Alzheimer’s Society through the UK Charity of the Year 2010 programme.
The innovative project, part of the National Gallery’s outreach programme, consisted of a series of practical art workshops, titled Ageing Creatively, delivered in the London boroughs of Hounslow and Tower Hamlets. The workshops were followed by a visit to the National Gallery. (more…)
