Alzheimer’s sufferers given hope by new generation of drugs

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor, London Telegraph.

The treatment can bring the “worst affected parts of the brain back to life” and scientists say it is twice as effective as any medication currently available.

They even suggested the drug works so well it might be given to patients in the future to prevent the onset of the illness.

The results of the human trials were hailed a “major new development” in the fight against the disease, which threatens to overwhelm the NHS within decades.

Alzheimer’s currently affects more than 400,000 people in Britain and the number of sufferers is expected to rise rapidly as the population ages.

The cost of treating the condition will double from £17billion to £35billion by 2026.

The researchers say that if further tests of the drug, called rember, are successful it could be available within four to five years.

“We appear to be bringing the worst affected parts of the brain functionally back to life,” said Prof Claude Wischik of Aberdeen University, who carried out the trials on 321 people with the illness.

He added: “It’s an aspiration for us to develop a drug that we could give preventatively from a certain stage.”