Results of a recent study suggest that a combination of two commonly used antibiotics could help to slow down the mental decline of Alzheimer’s patients. The study of 101 Alzheimer’s sufferers revealed that those treated with the antibiotics doxycycline and rifampin for three months had significantly less mental decline than those given a placebo. Professor Mark Loeb of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues found that the protective effect of the antibiotic combination was similar to that achieved with treatment using cholinesterase inhibitors like Aricept and Exelon. Cholinesterase inhibitors are currently the only class of drugs approved for treating Alzheimer’s disease, however only about half of Alzheimer’s patients respond well to the drugs. Loeb suspects that the antibiotics may work by interfering with the buildup of the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. However, he adds that it is also possible that the anti-inflammatory effects of the antibiotics may play a major role in their effectiveness.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 9th October 2003.
