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American Morning

Group Calls for Halt to Alzheimer's Study

Aired September 06, 2002 - 08:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Health news now. A consumer group calling for the immediate halt of a government study in Alzheimer's disease and pain killers. The group says that risks posed by the study are simply too great.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center to explain this -- what are they saying, Sanjay? Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill. There is no question, a lot of attention focused on Alzheimer's, and rightfully so. Four million people have it, 360,000 new cases of Alzheimer's every year in the United States, and those numbers are just expected to go up triple over the next 40 years.

So, a lot of attention being focussed on the treatment and the prevention of Alzheimer's. The national institute of aging proposed a study, 1,000 people, 70 and older, who did not have Alzheimer's yet, but who were at risk for it. What they looked at was actually the long-standing notion that anti-inflammatory medications might actually help prevent Alzheimer's. The two anti-inflammatory medications they were talking about specifically, Aleve and Celebrex, you see there, those two medications, both anti-inflammatories. There were comparing that to a placebo to see if they would work in terms of preventing the onset of Alzheimer's.

Now. There is an organization called Public Citizen. We have heard about them a lot. They were actually founded in 1971, incidentally. Ralph Nader founded them, a consumer advocacy group, and they have put a letter out to Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson. Basically, this letter says that they urge the National Institute of Aging to "stop this unethical" study. The drugs in the study are not -- they are not only unlikely to be effective, but also have the potential to inflict harm on these otherwise healthy individuals with little possibility of any benefit.

They also went on to say that this particular study has no evidence, there is no evidence that this particular study will work.

We actually talked to the National Institute of Aging, the Alzheimer's association, said, Public Citizen is saying there is no evidence this study will work. Their response, that is why we do studies. They are going to continue on with the study, and that's what we've heard so far, Bill.

HEMMER: You know, this whole topic on Alzheimer's is something the medical community continues to explore and learn a bit more about all the time. Two things. You mentioned Celebrex. How does that fit into this, and also, what do they talk about right now in terms of measures that can be taken by many people to prevent the onset of Alzheimer's, if indeed that is even possible in many respects?

GUPTA: Well, you know, the Public Citizens organization made a couple of points. One is that these medications, the anti- inflammatories are common medications, but they do have side effects, and that is something important to weigh. When you look at any kind of study, you want to weigh the risks and the benefits, and some of the risks of taking these anti-inflammatory medications, including Celebrex, indigestion, diarrhea, abdominal pain. Serious stomach problems including bleeding. That is the one that we hear about a lot. Sometimes those can occur without warning.

There are medications out there, Bill, to answer your second question, for the treatment of Alzheimer's. And I want to focus again and tell you that these anti-inflammatories, the study was to see if they prevent Alzheimer's. These were given to healthy people, people do not have any signs of Alzheimer's, but who are at risk. But there are medications out there to treat Alzheimer's. There are four we hear about a lot. You can see the list right there. I won't read them to you, but those are the four medications. People also talk about other things such as ginkgo possibly having some anecdotal benefits as well with Alzheimer's, but there is a that we don't know about this disease. We don't know what causes it, we don't know how to prevent it, and that is why there are so many studies on it.

HEMMER: Indeed. Point well taken. Thank you, doctor. Dr. Sanjay Gupta in our "House Call" this morning. See you soon.

GUPTA: Good seeing you.

HEMMER: You too, pal.

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