New Drug For Alzheimer’s Disease Under Trial

T-817MA is the new drug developed for treating Alzheimer’s disease by scientists at Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Boston Medical Center. The drug is reported to alter the course of the disease in patients already suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia. If T-817MA works well in the trials, it would be the first drug approved for Alzheimer’s disease after 2003 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There were no drugs developed by far to reverse the course of the disease, and those available could only be used at the onset of the disease to slow down the symptoms, said the researchers. T-817MA, on successful clinical trials, is expected work in patients already suffering from the ailment by altering the course of the disease, reported the researchers.

In Alzheimer’s disease, the changes in the brain start almost two decades before the appearance of the first symptom, after which the disease get further worse through the course, says Dr. Robert Stern of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center. He also added that if the trial shows positive results, there is a new hope for patients with Alzheimer’s disease to have a much-improved quality of life without deterioration by gradually slowing down the disease’s development.

The Alzheimer’s Society reports that about 36 million people around the world are presently suffering from the disease, and it is projected to reach 115 million by 2050. Finland, Iceland, United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, in an order higher to lower, have the high Alzheimer’s disease mortality rate, reported WHO in 2011.

Stern also mentioned that he believes in T-817MA, among other drugs, even though slowing down the disease in someone who is already suffering from moderate stages of dementia is not that promising. The most-awaited drug, expected to help tens of thousands of people, is currently in the phase II of clinical trial.

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