
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994                   TAG: 9404070323
SECTION: NATL/INT                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

ALZHEIMER'S DRUG'S ILL EFFECTS MAY BE AVOIDED

Many Alzheimer's patients who find they can't tolerate the only drug approved for treating the disease may be able to take it if they stop taking it briefly, then start again, researchers reported.

Liver abnormalities developed in 29 percent of patients who took the drug, tacrine, but the abnormalities disappeared a few weeks after the drug was stopped, the researchers said in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In 87 percent of the patients who then tried the drug again, the abnormalities never returned, said the study, which was led by a clinical scientist for the drug's maker.

A separate study published in the journal, led by Dr. Paul B. Watkins of the University of Michigan, found that no permanent liver damage resulted from taking tacrine.

Still another journal study found a correlation between Alzheimer's and economic status. It suggested that people with higher educational and job levels may have a reduced risk.

The highly educated may have more ``reserves'' of skills or coping mechanisms that could delay the disease, said the researchers, led by Yaakov Stern of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

But Alzheimer's Association President Edward Truschke cautioned that it is too early to tell if higher education or job attainment has any protective effect. The researchers also acknowledged that it may simply be harder to detect Alzheimer's in highly educated or employed people.

by CNB