Rember may halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease

Spectrum | 12.08.2008 | 04:30

Breakthrough in the Battle Against Dementia

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Alzheimer's name identifies the disease suffered by millions of people whose severe loss of memory and comprehension he first described in daily notes about his patient.

The breakthrough certainly made the front pages of all the major newspapers. UK scientists say they have developed a drug which may halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

In clinical trials, the drug - called Rember – proved at least twice as effective as current medicines. Rember slowed the rate of mental decline of Alzheimer’s patients by as much as 80%. Britain’s Alzheimer’s Society has hailed the development a major breakthrough in the battle against dementia. From London Stephen Beard reports.

(据民视新闻报导)让许多人闻之色变的阿兹海默症，目前没有药物可以根治，不过英国亚伯丁大学的科学家最近终于成功研发出一种新药，可以有效阻止病患恶化的速度，最快的话，4年内就可以问世。

英国妇人海伦6年前开始感到容易疲倦，而且常常忘东忘西，原本医生以为她只是忧郁，后来海伦被诊断出，罹患了无药可医的阿兹海默症。

过去6年来，海伦参与了英国亚伯丁大学的实验性治疗，服用一种叫做Rember的新药，这不起眼的蓝色胶囊，成功抑止了她的病情恶化，同样是阿兹海默患者的珊卓，服用Rember药物后，病情也有了惊人改善。

正常人的脑部中，有一种帮助神经细胞传递讯息的蛋白质，不过当这些蛋白质纤维开始形成纠结后，会破坏脑神经细胞，造成记忆退化，新药Rember不但可以阻止纤维纠结，还可以有效松开已经形成的纠结，让病情出现逆转。

接受实验的300多位病患，在服用rember近一年后，智能丧失的情况，大幅减缓了8成，科学家认为，Rember是治疗阿兹海默症根本病因的重大发展，新药目前还要进行大规模的安全性测试，最快4~5年内可以问世，预计将造福上千万的病患。