Drug keeps Alzheimer’s patients independent
Study finds drug preserves function
One-year data released at the recent 12th European College of Neuropsychopharm acology Congress in London demonstrates that treatment with ARICEPT, donepezil HCI, manufactured by Pfizer in New York City, significantly extends the functional ability of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Researchers found that treatment with the drug for up to one year allows AD patients to maintain their ability to perform activities of daily living essential for maintaining independence such as eating meals, bathing, dressing, doing chores, and enjoying hobbies.
"This is the first American study of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors to evaluate the effects of one year’s therapy in patients with Alzheimer’s disease," says Richard Mohs, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and the study’s lead investigator. "The findings suggest that prolonged treatment with donezepil HCI is an important weapon to improve or maintain patients’ independence while living with the disease."
Some patients removed from study
Researchers evaluated the time to reach clinically significant decline in function in AD patients taking donepezil HCI compared with placebo in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients who met predetermined criteria for clinically significant decline in function were discontinued from the study. Criteria for clinically significant decline were:
• 20% reduction in ability to perform one or more instrumental activities of daily living;
• one-point increase in the Global Clinical Dementia Rating, a validated measure of disease severity.
Of the 431 patients, 214 took 10 mg of done pezil HCI once daily, and the other 217 patients took placebo. Assessments of patient function were conducted at baseline and at six-week intervals for 54 weeks. Findings include the following:
• At 48 weeks, patients taking donepezil HCI had a 51% probability of maintaining function, compared with a 35% probability for patients on placebo.
• Patients on donepezil HCI maintained their functional ability for a median of five months longer than patients on placebo.
• Overall, patients on donepezil HCI showed a 62% chance of maintaining their functional ability over placebo patients in the one-year study.
"The study shows that time to functional loss is delayed in patients who are treated with donepezil HCI," Mohs says. "Our results complement an earlier one year European study and provide more evidence that donepezil HCI is effective in treating symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease."
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