[editor: This article is a little old but it is worth reading and asking about the progress in this treatment to health professionals. Drinking smoothies 3 times a week with some cilantro has been suggested to help remove heavy metals that may collect in the body and brain. Heavy metal retention in the body has also been connected to other nerve dysfunctions like multiple sclerosis. The main problem with this treatment is the drug "clioquinol" in in public domain and can't be patented---- ]
Drug used to treat athlete's foot 'slows down Alzheimer's'
A drug that is used in the treatment of athlete's foot could be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by British doctors.
The study, by a team from University College, London, found that clioquinol, a drug that is also used to treat ear infections and indigestion, can almost halt the progression of Alzheimer's.
It discovered that clioquinol, which was developed 100 years ago, is able to absorb the zinc and copper atoms that concentrate in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers before dementia sets in.
Doctors believe that by absorbing these atoms, clioquinol can arrest the onset of dementia, potentially helping thousands of people.
Dr Craig Ritchie, a psychiatrist at UCL and a Medical Research Council research fellow who led the trial, said that the results were "very exciting".
"The patients on this trial had Alzheimer's that was mild to moderate, but there was very little change in their brains once they had started treatment," he said.
"This drug could give your mind a chance to stay healthy as long as your body does. Particularly for patients who get this terrible disease in middle age, we need better treatments."
The study was prompted by research at Melbourne University in Australia and Harvard University in the United States, which found that clioquinol could prevent zinc from building up on the surface of the brain.
Academics from the universities speculated that by blocking zinc they could halt, and possibly reduce, the brain damage that causes Alzheimer's victims to lose their memory.
To test their theory, the UCL doctors tested 13 Alzheimer's patients, giving them clioquinol over a nine-month period, and 13 other Alzheimer's sufferers who were given a placebo.
The results, published in the Archives of Neurology, show that patients given clioquinol retained significantly more mental capacity than those who received the placebos. Dr Ritchie said that the patients taking clioquinol experienced a decline in their mental faculties of just 1.4 per cent.
"You would normally see a drop of four points or more in someone with Alzheimer's over the period of time we treated these patients," he added. "For those taking the placebo, their mental decline was 8.9 per cent. It's a very large gap and indicated that the drug was working."
Alzheimer's affects one in 10 people over the age of 65, and almost half of those aged 85 and over.
The protective effect of clioquinol appears to be nearly twice as great as that of the latest generation of Alzheimer's drugs, such as donepezil, which are expensive and not always widely available.
A survey by Pfizer, the drug company, revealed last week that the availability of treatments, which cost up to £100 a month, varied sharply across Britain. In the worst area, Lothian in Scotland, less than £1 a head was spent on these drugs in the over-65 population compared with more than £10 a head in Northern Ireland.
Clioquinol should be much cheaper because it is no longer protected by a patent.
Prana Technology, an Australian drug firm, provided clioquinol for the first small trial. Larger trials of the drug are expected to start shortly and will include British patients.
Dr Ritchie said that animal studies had suggested that the drug might even reverse the progress of the dementia - something that current treatments are unable to do.
"We know that in mice the disease was reversed. Everyone is excited but this was only a small trial and we have to do a larger trial. We think this drug will produce the same results in extended trials with humans. If we can get to them early, we might be able to treat patients and leave them with very little damage to their brain."
One fear over the long-term use of clioquinol is that it may damage peripheral nerves and the nerves in the eye. Dr Ritchie said his team found no evidence of this during their trial.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, the head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "The UCL research suggests that there may be a novel use for this already existing drug in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. But the trial is limited in its scale and we believe it would be valuable to see a larger scale trial.
"The potential for new drugs that may interfere with or revert the progression of Alzheimer's disease gives hope to people with dementia and their carers."
The plight of sufferers and their carers was brought home to millions two years ago when the film biography of the novelist Iris Murdoch was showered with awards for its touching and realistic portrayal of the writer's dementia.
"This drug could give your mind a chance to stay healthy as long as your body does. Particularly for patients who get this terrible disease in middle age, we need better treatments."
The study was prompted by research at Melbourne University in Australia and Harvard University in the United States, which found that clioquinol could prevent zinc from building up on the surface of the brain.
Academics from the universities speculated that by blocking zinc they could halt, and possibly reduce, the brain damage that causes Alzheimer's victims to lose their memory.
To test their theory, the UCL doctors tested 13 Alzheimer's patients, giving them clioquinol over a nine-month period, and 13 other Alzheimer's sufferers who were given a placebo.
The results, published in the Archives of Neurology, show that patients given clioquinol retained significantly more mental capacity than those who received the placebos. Dr Ritchie said that the patients taking clioquinol experienced a decline in their mental faculties of just 1.4 per cent.
"You would normally see a drop of four points or more in someone with Alzheimer's over the period of time we treated these patients," he added. "For those taking the placebo, their mental decline was 8.9 per cent. It's a very large gap and indicated that the drug was working."
Alzheimer's affects one in 10 people over the age of 65, and almost half of those aged 85 and over.
The protective effect of clioquinol appears to be nearly twice as great as that of the latest generation of Alzheimer's drugs, such as donepezil, which are expensive and not always widely available.
A survey by Pfizer, the drug company, revealed last week that the availability of treatments, which cost up to £100 a month, varied sharply across Britain. In the worst area, Lothian in Scotland, less than £1 a head was spent on these drugs in the over-65 population compared with more than £10 a head in Northern Ireland.
Clioquinol should be much cheaper because it is no longer protected by a patent.
Prana Technology, an Australian drug firm, provided clioquinol for the first small trial. Larger trials of the drug are expected to start shortly and will include British patients.
Dr Ritchie said that animal studies had suggested that the drug might even reverse the progress of the dementia - something that current treatments are unable to do.
"We know that in mice the disease was reversed. Everyone is excited but this was only a small trial and we have to do a larger trial. We think this drug will produce the same results in extended trials with humans. If we can get to them early, we might be able to treat patients and leave them with very little damage to their brain."
One fear over the long-term use of clioquinol is that it may damage peripheral nerves and the nerves in the eye. Dr Ritchie said his team found no evidence of this during their trial.
Dr Susanne Sorensen, the head of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "The UCL research suggests that there may be a novel use for this already existing drug in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. But the trial is limited in its scale and we believe it would be valuable to see a larger scale trial.
"The potential for new drugs that may interfere with or revert the progression of Alzheimer's disease gives hope to people with dementia and their carers."
The plight of sufferers and their carers was brought home to millions two years ago when the film biography of the novelist Iris Murdoch was showered with awards for its touching and realistic portrayal of the writer's dementia.
