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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7222)	3/15/1999 11:04:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Study to Look for Ways to Halt Advance of Alzheimer's Disease Bloomberg News March 15, 1999, 4:50 p.m. ET Study to Look for Ways to Halt Advance of Alzheimer's Disease Washington, March 15 (Bloomberg) -- A new study will examine whether vitamin E or Eisai Co.'s Aricept, if taken before the onset of Alzheimer's disease, can delay development of the disease, researchers said today. The 720-person study, launched by the National Institute on Aging, will rely on data published today in Archives of Neurology, which identified a group of people who have ''mild cognitive impairment'' -- slight memory loss -- that has not yet progressed to Alzheimer's. Patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to progress to Alzheimer's, and the researchers said they hoped the new study would show ways to stall the progress to the disease. ''We believe we can begin intervention at an early point, before individuals develop Alzheimer's disease,'' said Leon Thal, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and the principal investigator in the memory study. Several treatments exist for the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease once it begins. The new study, in contrast, will try to establish preventive measures that can keep the disease at bay in patients whose memories have begun to deteriorate. The Archives of Neurology study on mild cognitive impairment is the first to define the state, which falls between normal age- related memory loss and the dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease. Memory Loss Ronald Peterson, the Mayo Clinic doctor who served as the principle investigator for the study, said patients suffering from mild impairment definition have some memory loss, though they don't show the general confusion and inability to perform daily tasks that is a symptom of Alzheimer's. Still, those patients who have mild memory loss are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's; 10 to 15 percent of mild cognitive impairment patients develop Alzheimer's each year, compared to 1 or 2 percent of those not showing memory loss, Peterson said. These findings will be important in deciding which patients will be appropriate for the National Institute of Aging trials. ''Our ability to identify persons with (mild cognitive impairment) will allow us to go forward with research aimed at finding a treatment intervention that can slow or prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease,'' Peterson said. The 3-year National Institute on Aging study is expected to begin within the next year. Patients will be given either vitamin E, Aricept or a placebo, and researchers will watch whether the patient's develop Alzheimer's -- and how quickly the disease emerges. Role of Vitamin E The researchers said Vitamin E is thought to stem the progression to severe dementia or institutionalization by about seven months in patients already suffering from Alzheimer's. Aricept, made by Tokyo-based Eisai and sold by Pfizer in the U.S., is used to treat patients who have already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Patients taking the drug tend to see a improvement in some symptoms. The study will be carried out in more than 60 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Patients between 55 and 90 who meet the definition of mild cognitive impairment are eligible. --Brian Reid in Washington (202) 624-1936 /mfr

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7222)	3/16/1999 12:58:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

SEX DRUGS Getting a rise out of China Tuesday, March 16, 1999 By JOHN GITTINGS in Beijing For centuries the Chinese have been credited with discovering many of the staples of modern life centuries before the West. But it appears that one more invention must be added to a list that includes gunpowder, paper and porcelain - a Chinese doctor claims he has found a herbal equivalent to Viagra. The People's Daily recently devoted a full page to the Kaitai capsule, as the National People's Congress - China's annual parliament - prepared for its final session. It claimed that Kaitai, a medicine from the north-eastern province of Liaoning, can vanquish "sexual apathy" far more successfully than Viagra, from the capitalist US. According to the report, lavishly illustrated with tables and charts, Kaitai is more likely to encourage male rats to mount females, and, it claims, appears to be "superior to Viagra in increasing time of ejaculation". As delegates to the congress discussed how to create an "enterprise culture" across China, the Communist Party's national organ chose Kaitai as a model of business stimulation. It is already a great success on Dong Dan, the shopping street east of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. "All the old men have been asking for it," said the dispenser in the Oriental Drugstore. "It's selling very well." Kaitai is marketed with a tasteful design of a Greek Apollo and a nymph adopting various positions which spell out the English-looking word "KissTie" - a name chosen by the manufacturers to add a foreign touch. The People's Daily offers the story of Kaitai as a shining example of patriotic endeavour. Its inventor, Professor Wang Yiming, first isolated Kaitai in 1969, as the Cultural Revolution swept the country. Chinese soldiers clashed with Russian troops at Chenbao Island on the disputed Sino-Soviet border. Searching for a medicine to treat burns, Professor Wang noticed that a plant preparation he was using had a remarkable capacity for enlarging blood vessels. He was eager to investigate further, but was prevented from doing so by militant Red Guards. If it had not been for the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, says the People's Daily report, Professor Wang's research would not have been delayed so long. But he was still years ahead of the Western scientists whose discoveries led to Viagra. Resuming his research, Prof Wang applied the preparation to the treatment of sexual disorders. The entrepreneurs who now market Kaitai obtained Viagra on the black market last year to carry out a clinical comparison. Professor Wang claims that the tests proved that Kaitai was a winner, and he says he is prepared to testify before the United Nations that his product is superior to Viagra. - The Guardian, London smh.com.au