Stroke drug hope for Alzheimer’s

A DRUG developed to treat the symptoms of stroke was last night hailed as a potential “cure” for Alzheimer’s.

There is currently no effective drug to prevent or halt the memory- destroying condition, which affects 500,000 people in the UK alone.

But scientists believe edaravone could help eliminate Alzheimer’s build- up of amyloid plaques in the brain.

In tests on mice, researchers said it was able to “prevent and treat” the disease by “rescuing the cognitive deficits”. Edaravone is marketed in Japan to treat acute ischemic stroke patients within 24 hours of an attack although it is not licensed in Europe or the US for any condition.

A joint Chinese and Australian study’s initial findings suggest it “holds a promise as a therapeutic agent for Alzheimer’s” by targeting multiple key pathways of the disease. Mice administered the drug performed better in a series of competency tests. The study, published yesterday in the journal PNAS, said: “Edaravone would be effective in both the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s.

“Because it is currently used for stroke and proven safe in humans, the promising data from our current study warrant a large- scale clinical trial.”

Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This study suggests edaravone may have some future beneficial effects in Alzheimer’s but more research and large- scale clinical trials would be needed.”