Alzheimer's

Important New Developments

Interesting developments are afoot in the search for an effective treatment of Alzheimer's, according to the New York Times Business Section. For the complete story click here. The Times reports that scientists at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals not only can give rodents Alzheimer's - they have also figured out how to take it away. Curing mice is a lot simpler than curing people, but the results are a tantalizing development that offers hope to humans suffering from the disease.

Wyeth has decided to go "full bore" against Alzheimer's, a disease that has defied effective treatment since it was first identified a century ago. The company has dedicated more than 350 scientists exclusively to Alzheimer's research, and they are working on 23 separate projects for medicines to possibly treat the disease.

About five million people in the United States are living with Alzheimer's, according to the Alzheimer's Association, an advocacy group funded by individual donors as well as foundations and major corporations, including drug makers. Without a cure or new treatments, the number of those with the disease could grow to 13.2 million by 2050, the National Institute on Aging estimates.

"I think this is going to be the disease, and maybe one of the biggest health care political issues of my generation," Robert Essner, 59, Wyeth's professorial chief executive, told the Times. "It's hard for anyone to envision how to provide health care in the United States if you're going to have to deal with the burden. You just start to add up the cost, 20 years from now as my generation gets old - it's phenomenal."

Mr. Essner will have more than a host of grateful baby boomers awaiting him if Wyeth's crusade is successful. The company could snare a big financial payoff from what still amounts to a risky bet, one that has already cost Wyeth about $450 million in research funds. But with a treatment that slows progress of the disease possibly selling at more than $20,000 a year, the company's Alzheimer's program is one reason that some analysts are voicing renewed enthusiasm about Wyeth's stock, which had been weighed down for years by costly fen-phen diet drug litigation.

Wyeth is not the only company looking for Alzheimer's treatments. Virtually every large drug maker and a number of smaller biotech companies are working on Alzheimer's drugs, with several hundred ideas under study.

Potential profits not withstanding, Wyeth and the other companies are to be applauded for their efforts. Any relief for the sufferers of this terrible disease - and the toll it takes on those closest to them - is welcome.

But, once again, the focus here is on coming up with drugs to treat the symptoms of a disease - rather than to cure it or better still, prevent it.

Why aren't we also pumping research dollars into finding out what are the real causes of Alzheimer's - environmental, diet, lifestyle, genetics, possibly hormones?

Wouldn't that be a better use of resources - and a happier outcome for future and present generations?