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An allergy drug that's been used in Russia since the 1980s is showing promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, researchers say.

A study conducted in Russia found that Alzheimer's patients who took the drug Dimebon had significant improvement in thought processes over a 12-month period compared to patients who were given a placebo.

The researchers said that this is the first drug to yield year-long improvement in those with Alzheimer's...

The original article can be found at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080717/alzheimers_drug_080717/20080717?hub=Health&s_name=

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Despite the interesting subject matter and potential treatment implications, the article gave a cursory overview of Dimebon's ability to treat Alzheimer's patients. While alternative treatment options (i.e. Aricept and Exelon) were not mentioned or discussed, the single treatment draw-back was considered to be the unavailability of the product here in Canada. No potential side effects were addressed and the benefits of the treatment were not quantified but rather described as "substantial improvement." In addition, details of the study design (i.e. how patients were chosen and what constituted a "substantial improvement" in psychiatric and behavioral symptoms) were not described or reported.

The article carefully acknowledged that the preliminary use of Dimebon showed promising results and mentioned that further studies were required to deem it safe and effective. Having said that, the large gaps in the reported information may have been misleading for readers and offered a false sense of hope for those experiencing or dealing with Alzheimer's.

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