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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Alzheimer's Drug

Aired June 17, 2003 - 08:43   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Important update for those of you who have loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's. Some people suffering with the disease are now being treated with the drug that seems to slow the disease in its advanced stages, but the drug has not been approved for use in the U.S.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to talk about the drug and how people are getting it, if it's not approved here in the U.S.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, a very important topic, a frustrating topic as well for people who know somebody who has Alzheimer's Disease. The numbers are about four to eight million people in this country who have Alzheimer's, 360,000 new cases every year.

The most distressing thing really is there is no cure. There is not even a way to even slow down the onslaught, the progression of the disease.

There are four drugs out there to treat the symptoms of the disease. These are well known to people who have, know somebody who has Alzheimer's -- Cognex, Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl. Again, these are drugs basically to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's in people who have mild to moderate symptoms.

As you mentioned, Daryn, people are finding hope in a different drug, a drug that works in a different way to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer's the first drug that would actually do that. Not FDA approved yet. Works in a totally different way than some of the other drugs out there. The drug is called -- you can see the name there -- Memantine, the trade name Axura or Exiba. It's been around in Germany for about 10 years now. People have been using it in Germany for quite some time.

And now there is a study that's published in "The New England Journal of Medicine." That's one of the common popular journals here in this country, talking about the effects of this drug and the fact that it may have some benefits in, again, treating moderate to severe Alzheimer's, slowing down the progression of the symptoms.

Dr. Barry Riceberg was the lead author of the study. He actually put together a study of 400 people. They gave half of them placebo, half of them this medication. They found that the medication will slow down the otherwise inexorable progress of the disease.

Now this is the first time that a drug would actually do this for Alzheimer's, not approved by the FDA, frustrating, distressing for a lot of people, but it's still out there.

KAGAN: People are still getting it, either through the Internet or bringing it in from Europe. How do you do that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's an interesting process, and there are a lot of drugs where people have done this sort of thing. If there is not a drug that actually serves the same purpose, works the same way, achieves the same outcome in this country, there is a way by going through overseas pharmacies, using the Internet -- those sales have almost quadrupled over the last several years, for all sorts of different medications to get this drug.

What you need to do is find a doctor who's going to give a prescription, a doctor who will supervise the medication as well. That's not always easy. Some doctors are more cautious than others when it comes to this.

KAGAN: Because that I would think would be a concern from a doctor's standpoint. It's one thing to give consumers power and have them go around and perhaps a government agency, but when you start circumventing the process, you are turning consumers into doctors, and perhaps self-medicating.

GUPTA: The FDA process exists for a reason, and a lot of people are frustrated when you don't get a drug that you see overseas for a long time. The FDA process very simple -- they show drugs that are safe. They show a drug is effective, and then they show a drug is more effective than other drugs that exist already, that process can sometimes take a while.

So we in the media say more studies are going to be needed, and we are talking about the FDA process, and it exists to try and prevent people from being exposed to the toxicities and the possible side effects of some of these drugs.

KAGAN: Well, a lot of families desperate out there to help their loved ones and improve their own situation as they try to care for them.

GUPTA: Yes, we'll keep an eye on this one. We think this may be a drug that people will have access to a bit more easily in the next couple of years.

KAGAN: OK. On a much lighter note, for those of you who didn't hear about Viagra gum in the last hour, Sanjay will be back next hour to talk more about Viagra gum.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 17, 2003 - 08:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Important update for those of you who have loved ones suffering from Alzheimer's. Some people suffering with the disease are now being treated with the drug that seems to slow the disease in its advanced stages, but the drug has not been approved for use in the U.S.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to talk about the drug and how people are getting it, if it's not approved here in the U.S.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, a very important topic, a frustrating topic as well for people who know somebody who has Alzheimer's Disease. The numbers are about four to eight million people in this country who have Alzheimer's, 360,000 new cases every year.

The most distressing thing really is there is no cure. There is not even a way to even slow down the onslaught, the progression of the disease.

There are four drugs out there to treat the symptoms of the disease. These are well known to people who have, know somebody who has Alzheimer's -- Cognex, Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl. Again, these are drugs basically to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's in people who have mild to moderate symptoms.

As you mentioned, Daryn, people are finding hope in a different drug, a drug that works in a different way to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer's the first drug that would actually do that. Not FDA approved yet. Works in a totally different way than some of the other drugs out there. The drug is called -- you can see the name there -- Memantine, the trade name Axura or Exiba. It's been around in Germany for about 10 years now. People have been using it in Germany for quite some time.

And now there is a study that's published in "The New England Journal of Medicine." That's one of the common popular journals here in this country, talking about the effects of this drug and the fact that it may have some benefits in, again, treating moderate to severe Alzheimer's, slowing down the progression of the symptoms.

Dr. Barry Riceberg was the lead author of the study. He actually put together a study of 400 people. They gave half of them placebo, half of them this medication. They found that the medication will slow down the otherwise inexorable progress of the disease.

Now this is the first time that a drug would actually do this for Alzheimer's, not approved by the FDA, frustrating, distressing for a lot of people, but it's still out there.

KAGAN: People are still getting it, either through the Internet or bringing it in from Europe. How do you do that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's an interesting process, and there are a lot of drugs where people have done this sort of thing. If there is not a drug that actually serves the same purpose, works the same way, achieves the same outcome in this country, there is a way by going through overseas pharmacies, using the Internet -- those sales have almost quadrupled over the last several years, for all sorts of different medications to get this drug.

What you need to do is find a doctor who's going to give a prescription, a doctor who will supervise the medication as well. That's not always easy. Some doctors are more cautious than others when it comes to this.

KAGAN: Because that I would think would be a concern from a doctor's standpoint. It's one thing to give consumers power and have them go around and perhaps a government agency, but when you start circumventing the process, you are turning consumers into doctors, and perhaps self-medicating.

GUPTA: The FDA process exists for a reason, and a lot of people are frustrated when you don't get a drug that you see overseas for a long time. The FDA process very simple -- they show drugs that are safe. They show a drug is effective, and then they show a drug is more effective than other drugs that exist already, that process can sometimes take a while.

So we in the media say more studies are going to be needed, and we are talking about the FDA process, and it exists to try and prevent people from being exposed to the toxicities and the possible side effects of some of these drugs.

KAGAN: Well, a lot of families desperate out there to help their loved ones and improve their own situation as they try to care for them.

GUPTA: Yes, we'll keep an eye on this one. We think this may be a drug that people will have access to a bit more easily in the next couple of years.

KAGAN: OK. On a much lighter note, for those of you who didn't hear about Viagra gum in the last hour, Sanjay will be back next hour to talk more about Viagra gum.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com