Diabetes Drug May Help Some With Alzheimer’s
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The diabetes drug Avandia can enhance memory in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, but only in patients with a certain genetic profile, researchers from GlaxoSmithKline reported Wednesday at a UC San Diego meeting.
The finding supports the hypothesis that impaired glucose metabolism may play a role in the onset of the disorder.
The study, using about 500 patients, showed that the drug worked only in patients who did not have a gene variant known as ApoE4. Other versions of the gene have previously been linked to Alzheimer’s.
