Early Alzheimer’s Screening May Prolong Time Before Dementia
By Elizabeth Lopatto
July 12 (Bloomberg) -- Screening people for Alzheimer’s disease and treating them early would add a year to the time they spend in less-severe stages of the malady, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. study found.
A research model predicted that if a disease-modifying treatment were available, that could enable patients to live in the community one year longer while decreasing time spent in long-term care by almost 5 months, according to results presented today in Honolulu at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease.
Companies such as Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey, New York-based Pfizer Inc. and Bristol-Myers, and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. are attempting to develop treatments that may slow the illness. Existing drugs temporarily ease symptoms; there is no cure.
“It would be very important if I were told I had a certain amount of time left to live and I could spend 70 percent of that time in a mild state and 30 percent in a severe state,” said David Budd, a director of health-outcomes research at Bristol- Myers. “Frequently you hear people who have loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease saying, ‘I just want Mom to be Mom.’ There isn’t a tremendous life extension but the balance of better time is significant.”
Patients on a hypothetical disease-modifying agent lived 4.2 years in mild states of Alzheimer’s, compared with 3.2 years for patients treated with the current standard of care. Average time in the community was 5.4 years for the disease-modifying drug, compared with 4.4 on the current care.
Long-Term Care
Increasing the time that patients spend with mild disease cuts the need for costly long-term care, according to the study. The researchers modeled the effects of a disease-modifying drug, and the likelihood of patients’ transitioning in disease from pre-dementia, mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe states was based on data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimagining Initiative.
The study abstract didn’t specify how effective the treatment would have to be to get the benefit.
Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will afflict 35.6 million people this year, according to a report from Alzheimer’s Disease International, a London-based federation of Alzheimer associations. The number of sufferers may almost double every 20 years, and total 115.4 million in 2050.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at elopatto@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 12, 2010 17:30 EDT |
