Enthusiastic welcome for revolutionary drug
Alzheimer’s sufferers flood phone helplines
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People with Alzheimer’s disease are flooding helplines with requests to take part in the next stage of trials of a revolutionary new drug that could slow the progress of the condition.
More than 120 calls were made to NHS 24 yesterday to inquire about trials of rember, which has been developed thanks to scientists at Aberdeen University.
The Alzheimer Scotland charity’s own dementia helpline has also been inundated with queries.
Yesterday it was revealed that research into the drug had shown it could delay the progression of Alzheimer’s by up to 81% – making it more than twice as effective as existing treatments.
A final stage of trials is due to begin next year and if these confirm the findings it is hoped the drug could be available by 2012.
Jim Jackson, chief executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said: “Although this news of a potential cure for Alzheimer’s is extremely encouraging, it will be at least four years – future trial success permitting – before it is available on prescription.
“The high numbers of calls to our Dementia Helpline and to NHS 24 since these results were made public only further highlight the very real needs of people with Alzheimer’s, and other forms of dementia, right now.”
The drug is produced by TauRx Therapeutics, a Singapore-based spin-out company of Aberdeen University. The drug is the first to act on a process in the brain’s nerve cells discovered by German neuropsychiatrist Alois Alzheimer more than a century ago. It targets so-called tau tangles, made up of the protein tau, that form inside nerve cells in the brain.
These tangles first destroy the nerve cells linked to memory and then destroy neurons in other parts of the brain as the disease pro- gresses. The drug works by dissolving the tau fibres and prevents a build-up of the tangles.
Some 321 people with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s disease, including 96 in the north-east, took part in phase-two trials of the drug.
After 19 months, there was little difference in the mental capacity and brain scans of those taking rember, while those in the control group experienced a decline.
Mr Jackson said medication was only part of the solution, and Alzheimer Scotland’s 2008 report, Meeting our Needs? had revealed serious deficiencies in the amount and quality of care services available.
Information is available on Alzheimer Scotland’s free helpline 0808 808 3000 or the website www.alzscot.org
