Home | About | Events | Contact | Advisory Board | Writer’s Guidelines | Reprints | Organizations | Advertising
E-news ExclusiveNew Treatment for Mild Cognitive Impairment?
The study’s subjects were 60 adults diagnosed with amnesic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild to moderate Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). Those who received nasally administered 40 international unit (IU) doses of insulin detemir, a manufactured form of the hormone, for 21 days showed significant improvement in their short-term ability to retain and process verbal and visual information compared with those who received 20 IU doses or a placebo. Additionally, the recipients of the 40 IU doses who carry the APOE-e4 gene, known to increase the risk for Alzheimer’s, recorded significantly higher memory scores than those who received the lower dosage or placebo, while noncarriers across all three groups posted significantly lower scores. Previous trials had shown promising effects of nasally administered insulin for adults with AD and MCI, but this study was the first to use insulin detemir, the effects of which are longer lasting than those of regular insulin. “The study provides preliminary evidence that insulin detemir can provide effective treatment for people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s-related dementia similar to our previous work with regular insulin,” says Suzanne Craft, PhD, a professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the lead author of the study, which was published online in advance of the February issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. “We are also especially encouraged that we were able to improve memory for adults with MCI who have the APOE-e4 gene, as these patients are notoriously resistant to other therapies and interventions,” she says. The researchers also sought to determine whether the insulin detemir doses would cause any negative side effects, and found only minor adverse reactions among the subjects. The study’s overall results support further investigation of the therapeutic value of insulin detemir as a treatment for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, Craft says. “Alzheimer’s is a devastating illness, for which even small therapeutic gains have the potential to improve quality of life and significantly reduce the overall burden for patients, families, and society,” she says. “Future studies are warranted to examine the safety and efficacy of this promising treatment.” — Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center |
