AZT Is Found to Help Memory in AIDS Cases

The AIDS drug AZT can improve memory and attention and ease other mental problems that are frequent symptoms of AIDS, a study shows.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirms earlier reports showing that AZT can relieve these mental symptoms, at least in their first stages.

Of 262 patients who participated in the University of Kentucky study, nearly half were found to have some neurological impairment when the study started. Sixty of these people were randomly chosen to take AZT, while 69 got dummy placebos.

Two months after treatment started, those who received AZT scored significantly better on tests of attention, memory, motor skills and general mental speed. People with full-blown AIDS improved more than those who had the pre-AIDS disease called AIDS-related complex, or ARC.