The question: Might a drug used to treat the memory and mental functioning problems of Alzheimer's disease also be effective in keeping people with mild memory loss from progressing to Alzheimer's?
This study: It involved 756 people (average age, 73) with mild cognitive impairment, including 208 who, after testing, were found to be depressed. Participants were randomly assigned to take Aricept (donepezil), Vitamin E or a placebo daily. Among people who were depressed, 14 percent of those taking Aricept had progressed to Alzheimer's two years later, compared with 29 percent of those taking Vitamin E or a placebo. Among those not depressed, essentially no difference was found in the rate at which people who did and did not take the drug developed Alzheimer's. Also, the more depressed people were, based on standardized scales, the more apt they were to have developed Alzheimer's.
Who may be affected? Older people with mild cognitive impairment, who might have memory problems beyond what is considered a normal effect of aging but do not have other Alzheimer's symptoms.
Caveats: People who had received a diagnosis of depression before the start of the study were excluded from participating. Nearly all participants were white.
Find this study: June 16 issue of Neurology.
Learn more: www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders and www.alzinfo.org.
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