Columbus, February 9, 2009 -- The Columbus Dispatch reported that The Ohio State University Medical Center is one of 200 sites across the country that is testing a promising new drug treatment for dementia.

The drug, Bapineuzumab, is a "passive vaccine" that delivers antibodies against beta-amyloid which is responsible for the plaques that clogs the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Through studies such as this, we continue to learn more about how to perform Alzheimer's disease clinical trials safely and effectively.

Alzheimer's is a complex disease, and better treatments and preventions will likely also be complex, so we must investigate every promising drug target looking eventually toward the possibility of a multi-strategy approach.

While currently approved treatment options for Alzheimer's offer some relief of symptoms, they do not change the underlying course of the disease. It is widely hoped that the next generation of therapies will be disease modifying, — that is, they will slow or stop the brain cell death and loss of function caused by Alzheimer's.

Overall, we are learning from every study and making consistent progress in Alzheimer research. It is very important that we have as many treatments as possible in the pipeline for Alzheimer's and that we explore every available avenue for therapies. The population is aging, and we must make significant advances soon in treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's or it will become an overwhelming epidemic, wiping out our healthcare resources and devastating Medicare.

For more information about the dementia study at Ohio State University Medical School, contact Jenny Icenhour at 614-293-6882.