International Conference On Alzheimer's Disease Begins With Focus On Early Diagnosis

(RTTNews) - The 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, or ICAD, which began on July 11, is currently underway in Vienna, Austria. The conference, which runs through July 16, brings together over 5,000 researchers from 60 countries to share research and information on the cause, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Alzheimer's is a degenerative fatal brain disorder caused due to build up of plaques containing a protein called beta amyloid in patients' brains. The disease results in a gradual loss of memory leading to intellectual, psychological and behavioral disorders, finally proving fatal.

Speaking at the conference, William Thies, Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at the Alzheimer's Association said that early diagnosis of the disease is essential to receive the best help and care possible.

Nerida Paterson, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of General Practice at the University of Newcastle, Australia said that a doctor's positive attitude to the diagnosis and treatment of dementia will enable early Alzheimer's diagnosis. The attitudes of 'therapeutic nihilism' surrounding dementia" need to be overcome.

According to Paterson, "therapeutic nihilism" is a belief that there is no recognized cure or effective treatment for an illness, and therefore treatment or intervention in any form is not important.

The results of two studies about Martek Biosciences Corp.'s (MATK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) omega-3 derived from microalgae, which was tested to see its effect on "age related cognitive decline, were presented at the conference on July 12.

One of the trials was conducted by the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, or ADCS, supported by the National Institute on Aging, or NIA, and the second by Martek. In the NIA trial, which lasted 18 months, and was conducted in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, DHA omega-3 showed no evidence for benefit in the studied population.

Martek's trial, which was for six months, showed a positive result on the test of memory and learning in healthy older adults, but not in people with Alzheimer's or dementia.

DHA omega-3 is a major structural fat in the brain. Previous animal studies and epidemiology in humans suggested that DHA omega-3 fatty acid may cut the build-up of the protein linked to Alzheimer's.

A poster session highlighting the topline data of oral Alzheimer's disease drug candidate -- ELND005, developed by Elan Corp. (ELN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Transition Therapeutics Inc. (TTHI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating)(TTH.TO), will be held July 13 to July 15.

Till date, there has been no cure for Alzheimer's. The FDA-approved drugs, which are currently in the market, can temporarily relieve only some symptoms of the disease like, memory loss, difficulty in communicating, impaired judgment and a loss of initiative.

Forest Laboratories Inc.s' (FRX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Namenda, Sciele Pharma Inc.'s (SCRX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Cognex, Pfizer/Eisai's Aricept, Novartis AG's (NVS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Exelon, and Janssen-Ortho Inc.'s Razadyne can alleviate the symptoms of Alzheimer's like memory deterioration. With growing unmet medical need, therapeutic opportunities for Alzheimer's drug developers are still wide open. The global Alzheimer's drug market, which was worth about $500 million in 1999 climbed to over $6 billion in 2008, according to reports.

It could be a major breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer's if any of the drugs under development are able to reverse or halt the disease altogether.

MATK, which has thus far hit a 52-week low of $15.36 and 52-week high of $39.60 closed Friday's regular trading session at $21.70, up 2.99% on a volume of 236,831 shares.

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