23/03/06 Restricted drug can ease severe dementia symptoms
LYNDSAY MOSS
A DRUG which may not be available for many future Alzheimer's patients has been found to help people at a severe stage of the disease.
Researchers writing in the Lancet said that donepezil (Aricept) could reverse some aspects of the mental and functional deterioration associated with advanced Alzheimer's.
Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is recommending donepezil and other drugs in the same class should be available only for those with moderate Alzheimer's.
The institute's final guidance, which is likely to be adopted in Scotland, is expected in the next few months.
Until a U-turn in January, NICE had said none of the drugs, known as anticholinesterase inhibitors, should be used because they were not clinically effective or good value. They cost about £2.50 a day per patient.
The latest study, by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, compared 95 patients taking donepezil with 99 taking a placebo over six months.
Professor Bengt Winblad and colleagues found that those on donepezil had improved cognition and were better at everyday activities than the placebo group.
While the patients taking the drug had some side- effects, these were not serious and did not last long.
"Donepezil slows and can reverse some aspects of deterioration of cognition and function in individuals with severe Alzheimer's," Prof Winblad said.
This month the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network concluded the drugs were effective at every severity of Alzheimer's.
From (news.scotsman.com)