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pawclaws
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Only if he isn't named Stanley!
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ROTFLMFAO!!!! I'm glad I haven't started lunch yet because it would be all over my screen.Hangar,
It must be fun when someone can hide their own Easter Eggs....
I think it is about 347 posts too long.BTW, what the hell is this thread about?
Pfizer's Aricept Has Little Effect on Alzheimer's, Lancet Says
June 24 -- Pfizer Inc.'s Aricept drug for Alzheimer's disease didn't prevent worsening of disability caused by the brain malady and isn't a cost-effective treatment, a study of 565 patients published in the U.K. journal the Lancet found.
After three years, 58 percent of those taking donepezil, marketed as Aricept, had a worsening of their disability, compared with 59 percent of those on placebo, researchers at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. found. It didn't reduce the likelihood of patients needing extended care, the authors said.
Aricept is a type of drug known as a cholinesterase inhibitor, which blocks enzymes that harm the brain's nerve signal carriers. Johnson & Johnson's Reminyl and Novartis AG's Exelon work in the same way. The study is the longest so far conducted on such drugs, and the first that wasn't funded by a drug company, lead researcher Richard Gray said.
``Money may be better spent on additional nurses for respite care than on such drugs,'' Gray said in a telephone interview.
As many as 4 million Americans may suffer from Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center. The disease is named after the German doctor, Alois Alzheimer, who discovered it in 1906. Sufferers experience loss of memory, leading to inability to perform everyday tasks.
The U.K. study sought to examine whether Aricept slowed the progression of disability or reduced the need of patients to enter a nursing home. After three years, 42 percent of patients taking Aricept had to be institutionalized, compared with 44 percent of those on placebo. Fewer patients taking 10 milligrams of Aricept were institutionalized than those taking 5 milligrams, though the results weren't statistically significant, Gray said.
Aricept vs. Placebo
After a year, 13 percent of patients taking donepezil experienced a progression of disability, compared with 19 percent of those on the placebo.
``Donepezil produced no measurable reduction in the rate of institutionalization or progress of disability,'' the researchers wrote in the Lancet. ``Improvements in functional ability would not delay institutionalization sufficiently to offset the costs of the drugs.''
Aricept, a once-daily pill, is the most commonly prescribed Alzheimer's drug in the U.S., Pfizer says. Pfizer's sales of the drug rose 25 percent to $254 million last year. It markets the drug with Eisai Co., Japan's fourth-largest drugmaker.
In yearlong tests, Aricept helped patients retain their memory and perform daily tasks better than those who took a placebo, Pfizer said on its Web page. It helped prevent delusions and nighttime roaming, according to the company.
Company spokesmen could not be reached yesterday evening for comment about the Lancet study.