Drugs to reverse Alzheimer's disease prove elusive

This year was supposed to herald the arrival of the first disease-modifying drug -- which pharmaceutical experts predict will be a multimillion-dollar product. Instead, it's been marked by two failed clinical trials -- one for the medication shelved last month by Myriad Genetics and one for another drug aimed at arresting the disease. The arrival of such a disease-modifying medication is now unlikely before 2010, perhaps later.

As such, Alzheimer's disease research is at a crossroads, according to several scientists attending this week's meeting of the Alzheimer’s Assn. 2008 International Conference. Though technology to detect the condition early is advancing rapidly, there is still no way to halt or reverse the devastating disease.

Five Alzheimer's disease medications are available. But all of these drugs treat the symptoms of the disease, such as memory problems and mental confusion. They do not cure, halt or even slow the disease process, and a review published earlier this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that the drugs produce few, if any, meaningful benefits.

Although the clinical trials on these drugs did find statistically significant improvements in people taking medications, the actual effect on their lives was so small that it's reasonable for patients and families to decide not to take the drugs because of the cost or side effects, the authors of the report explained.

As dissatisfaction with these options grows, leading researchers in the field insist they are in heavy pursuit of something that will improve the lives of the great gray wave of Americans entering their retirement years.

"The first drug to treat symptoms was introduced in 1993. That was a pretty important step forward because, until then, there was a general view that we would never be able to treat the disease," says Dr. Paul Aisen, a leading Alzheimer's researcher at UC San Diego. "We have a long way to go. However, I have no doubt we are making progress and that major advances can be expected in the next few years. It's a devastating disease. We need to move very quickly."