New benefits of old Alzheimer’s drug discovered

A dementia drug keeps half of patients out of nursing homes, a UCL published research has found. 295 people suffering from moderate to severe forms of Alzheimer’s disease were monitored under the effects of the drug donepezil, which is usually used until the patient is in the latter stages of the disease, when it has shown to have little effect.

Twenty percent of patines who remained on donepezil ended up in a care home after 12 months, compared to 37 percent of those who were taken off the medicine.

A new study may force a re-think of the policy of not giving the worst affected patients access to the drug.

The drug is typically withdrawn in the later stages of the disease because of a lack of perceived benefit.

Participants were randomly selected either to continue taking Aricept, or to have the drug replaced by an inactive placebo.

While withdrawing donepezil increased the risk of needing residential care, memantine was not found to have any effect on the risk of moving to a nursing home.

Robert Howard, lead author of the study and Old Age Psychiatry expert at the UCL, said that while donepezil’s effects may seem modest, the benefits are crucial especially when the dementia struck-patient is your mother, wife or somebody you love.

The drug received approval only for mild and moderate cases, but health institutions recommended doctors to prescribe it to late-stage cases as well. Also, that the average cost of residential care for people with dementia is estimated to be between £30,732 and £34,424 per year. By comparison, the cost of donepezil is £21.59 per year.

“This is good news, but the results should be interpreted with caution”. “We are all impatient for the advent of true disease-modifying drugs that can slow or halt the Alzheimer process, but donepezil is available right now and at modest cost”.

“Stopping donepezil could worsen the ability of the person with dementia to cope with the usual activities of daily living which may mean that living at home becomes impossible”, said Dr Ian Maidment, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston University, and spokesperson for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

Scientists also urge clinicians to consider the implication that their research has and appropriately adjust their prescribing patterns. The number of people with dementia is at a critical level and it’s never been more important to invest in research to help doctors make informed decisions about treatments for their patients.