August 26 - Early Treatment of Age-Related Memory Loss May Be Beneficial

New research suggests that early treatment of mild memory loss may delay Alzheimer’s disease’s progression. Using PET scans to measure brain metabolism in Alzheimer’s patients, UCLA researchers were able to demonstrate a positive effect of early drug intervention. The findings were presented at the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease.

Gary Small, MD, the Parlow-Solomon Professor on Aging and a professor of clinical psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, and Daniel Silverman, MD, an associate clinical professor of molecular and medical pharmacology and head of neuronuclear imaging at UCLA, conducted a study of a small sample of adults with mild, age-related memory loss. One group of participants was randomly assigned a daily placebo, while the other group was given Aricept, a drug used to treat Alzheimer's symptoms. Both groups underwent PET brain scans before and after the 18-month treatment. The researchers found that the brains of people given Aricept showed an increased rate of metabolism and looked more normal than the brains of those given the placebo. Both groups scored the same on memory tests, however, implying that PET scans may be more sensitive than neuropsychological tests in detecting the effects of drugs.

— Source: UCLA

(View the Daily News Archive)