Cerebrolysin Improves Alzheimer's Symptoms
Some four million
Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, and that number is expected
to grow as the population ages. Indeed, Alzheimer's is the leading cause
of dementia among the elderly. A few medications are available to curb
Alzheimer's symptoms but more research and new drugs are always welcome,
and research continues to identify the cause of the illness.
Cerebrolysin is a drug that appears to improve mental function and behavior
in Alzheimer's disease patients. The results of a recent clinical study
of cerebrolysin were recently reported in the journal Clinical Drug Investigation.
Cerebrolysin is believed to mimic a naturally occurring growth factor in
the body, resulting in the generation or support of nerve cells in the
brain. Cerebrolysin is manufactured by Ebewe Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., of
Austria, and is currently approved for marketing in 28 countries.
Dr. Xiao Shifu of the Shanghai Mental Health Center in China, and his colleagues
in the Cerebrolysin Study Group, compared the effects of cerebrolysin to
that of a placebo in 157 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
The drug was given intravenously five days a week for four weeks. The findings
showed that measures of mental function improved to a significantly greater
degree in the patients who received cerebrolysin compared to those who
received the placebo. Moreover, the cerebrolysin group showed a trend toward
improvement of the activities of daily living.
Side effects reported by patients receiving cerebrolysin were temporary
and mild and ranged from a feeling of heat to agitation to hypersensitivity
reactions. Clinical research on the drug will continue with the aim of
obtaining marketing approval in the US and other countries.
This article appears
in DRUG Infoline, PharmInfoNet's bimonthly newsletter about new drug development.
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