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July 18th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda WEDNESDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) — Researchers say an
investigational drug helped improve memory, language, attention and other
mental skills in people with early Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was funded by EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, which is developing the
drug, dubbed EVP-6124. The results are to be presented Wednesday at the
annual meeting of the Alzheimer’s Association in Vancouver.
The study involved 409 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s
disease who were either being treated with the drugs donepezil (Aricept)
or rivastigmine (Exelon) or were receiving no treatment.
During the six-month, phase 2 trial, patients took either a placebo or
one of three different doses of EVP-6124.
After 23 weeks of treatment, the patients in the high-dose group showed
statistically significant benefits on tests of mental function compared to
those taking the dummy pill. Some patients in the medium- and high-dose
groups did experience mild to moderate gastrointestinal side effects, the
team added.
“In our study, EVP-6124 provided significant benefits for people with
mild to moderate Alzheimer’s whether they were on currently approved
therapy or not,” Dr. Dana Hilt, senior vice president of clinical
development and chief medical officer of EnVivo, said in an Alzheimer’s
Association news release.
The authors explain that EVP-6124 belongs to a family of drugs called
alpha-7 nicotinic agonists, which amplify the effects of acetylcholine, a
brain chemical that’s essential for normal brain and memory function.
People with Alzheimer’s disease have greatly reduced levels of
acetylcholine.
Currently, there are no effective treatments to fight Alzheimer’s
disease, although certain drugs may temporarily ameliorate symptoms.
For that reason, the new study “is potentially interesting, as there is
a need for better symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” said
Peter Davies, director of the Litwin Zucker Research Center for the Study
of Alzheimer’s Disease at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in
New Hyde Park, N.Y.
He pointed out that the mechanism behind the new drug is not altogether
novel. “Treating the deficiency of acetylcholine is the basis for the
already approved drugs Aricept, Exelon and Razodyne,” Davies said. “This
drug does the same thing, but in a different way. The other drugs act to
reduce the breakdown of acetylcholine: this drug mimics the effect of
acetylcholine at one of the receptors for this compound.”
He said that there are hints that this approach might do more than just
ease symptoms, and might attack the underlying illness. But that remains
speculative and “further studies do seem to be warranted,” Davies
said.
Another expert agreed.
“These promising effects are ‘symptomatic’ (the drug does not slow
progression of disease), and the study is relatively small in size,” noted
Stephen Ferris, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the
clinical trials program at NYU Langone Medical Center’s Comprehensive
Center on Brain Aging in New York City.
Like Davies, Ferris stressed that “if the results can be confirmed in a
larger trial, the drug would be an important addition to current Alzheimer
treatments.”
Findings presented at medical meeting are typically considered
preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer’s disease medications.
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