Pair of Alzheimer's studies show two potentially effective treatments

CHICAGO Results from two studies presented at the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago Monday indicated that two new treatments may be effective in combating the disease.

One study, a phase II trial of the compound AL-108, targeted changes in the tau protein in mild cognitive impairment, a disease related to Alzheimer’s and found some improvements in memory. The other study found that people with Alzheimer’s and diabetes who took insulin and oral diabetes drugs had fewer brain changes related to the disease than the patients who didn’t have diabetes.

“We are making progress,” said Ralph Nixon of the Alzheimer’s Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, who is also a professor of psychiatry and cell biology at New York University School of Medicine. “It is important that we have as many drugs as possible in the pipeline for Alzheimer’s, and that we explore every available avenue for treatments.”