Diabetes Drug May Help Some With Alzheimer’s
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.
