Two Agents Fail To Fight Off Alzheimer's

Two compounds that experts had hoped might slow or prevent Alzheimer's disease apparently have little or no effect. The results from a long-awaited trial found vitamin E did not slow progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's, as had been hoped. Nor did donepezil (Aricept) display any benefit over three years, although it was associated with a lower rate of progression to Alzheimer's over the first year of use. "Everyone thought vitamin E would work better earlier, but there's nothing there," said Dr. Deborah Blacker, author of an editorial which accompanies the article in the June 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "That's tremendously disappointing," she said. The Aricept findings were not so absolutely negative but, according to Blacker, "there's no resounding sense that it's beneficial. There is some benefit, and patients could certainly choose to discuss it with their doctor." "It's sort of a moderate disappointment," added Dr. Thomas M. Wisniewski, an associate professor of neurology, pathology and psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. "We weren't expecting vitamin E to have much of an effect, and Aricept was likely to have a little bit of an effect." The findings are being released early to coincide with a presentation being made April 13 at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Miami Beach, Fla. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and by drug makers Pfizer Inc. and Eisai Inc., which together market Aricept.