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« Cheney-Care | Main | Courts Run Amok »

January 15, 2008 |Permalink |Comments (2)

No Miracle Pill

Alzheimer's drugs may not delay dementia
Study finds little benefit from treatment for early memory problems

Giving Alzheimer's drugs to people with early memory problems does not seem to delay the onset of the disease, researchers said on Tuesday.

Three main drugs — Aricept, or donepezil; Exelon, or rivastigmine; and Reminyl, or galantamine — are currently approved for use in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.They are also often prescribed on a so-called "off-label" basis to people with pre-dementia.

But doctors are divided over their effectiveness, leading to differing rates of use and bitter arguments over patient access to treatment, notably in Britain where a dispute over their cost-effectiveness has led to legal clashes.

I have taken care of many people who were living with dementia. Their loved ones were uniformly in favor of and even desperate in their search for something that could change the course of the disease. I was always under pressure (all doctors are) to prescribe these drugs. The pressure comes from other doctors (peer pressure if you will) , family members, patients themselves and most especially from the drug companies that make these products.

The problem is that, outside of a small number of exceptional circumstances, the drugs listed above are largely ineffective and expose patients to substantial and sometimes dangerous side effects.

Having said that, I guess I can forget about Big Pharma sending me a nice fat check!

Comments ( 2)

Thanks. I wish there were a handy magic bullet, but there isn't one yet.

Posted by MageB
January 15, 2008 4:13 PM

Thank you for the reference of research done on this subject. It seems to confirm the casual observations I have made while working in nursing homes. Often times I would see an initial sharp decline in functioning in elders taking these medications followed by a period of stabilization (below their baseline). I would talk with many RN's about the medications and they would never hesitate to voice their dislike for these medications saying they seemed to be doing more harm than good.

As a trained researcher, I knew that these observations could very well be due to some other causal factor so it is a relief to see some empirical evidence supporting my haphazard observations.

Posted by JazzRespect&Heart
January 18, 2008 12:13 PM

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