Study suggests Alzheimer's drug market is much bigger than once thought

摘要

Drugs that attack the root causes of Alzheimer's disease could have a much larger market than once thought. That's one conclusion to be drawn from a new analysis of mild cognitive deficits in the aged. Based on the famous Nun Study, the analysis found that most elderly subjects with small degrees of memory loss and cognitive decline also have Alzheimer type neurofibrillary tangles in their brains. Thus, what's traditionally been viewed as "normal" cognitive decline with aging could potentially be treatable with drugs that block Alzheimer-related protein deposits in the brain. The study was conducted by Kathryn Riley and other researchers at the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY). It was based on analysis of 251 deceased participants in the NunStudy, which started a decade ago with 678 mostly elderly nuns from the School Sisters of Notre Dame order. The nuns agreed to undergo frequent physical and mental evaluations and to donate their brains for detailed autopsy after death.