Alzheimer's drug IVIg could halt sufferers' decline Jason Marder, one of the participants in the trial, with his wife, Karin. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP A new treatment for Alzheimer's could halt deterioration in people with early symptoms of the disease, a limited human trial has shown. The treatment, called the "most exciting drug in development" by scientists, is currently prescribed to people with immune system problems but could have a significant impact on the quality of life of Alzheimer's sufferers, the trial suggests. The drug, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), prevented the decline in cognitive skills, memory and the ability to live independently, among patients with mild to moderate symptoms of Alzheimer's. Those who took a placebo continued to decline. The small number of patients who took the highest dose of the drug for three years showed no decline in memory. Medical experts said the drug could be used to treat Alzheimer's within a decade and was "probably the most exciting drug we know about that is currently in the late stages of research." Dementia is one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS, with one in three people developing the disease - for which there is no cure - after the age of 65. IVIg contains antibodies from blood donors and is normally used in the treatment of the immune system and serious infections. In the study of 16 patients carried out by Weill Cornell medical college in New York, the 11 patients taking various doses of the IVIg drug Gammagard showed more positive results than those who were taking a placebo. The five patients who were not initially given the drug declined more slowly after they were switched to Gammagard. The four participants originally given the highest dose and kept on that dose for three years showed no decline in cognition. Dr Norman Relkin, head of a memory disorders programme at Weill Cornell medical centre said to find even one patient who did not decline over three years would be unusual. "To have all four not progress was very eye-opening," he said. It is crucial that we find effective, long-term treatments. This is the first study to report long-term stabilisation of Alzheimer's symptoms with IVIg. While the small number of participants may limit the reliability of our findings, we are very enthusiastic about the results. Dr Anne Corbett, a research manager at the Alzheimer's Society, said it was thought the treatment cleared toxic proteins called beta amyloid from the brain, allowing brain cells to function properly. It has not yet been established if the build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain is a symptom or a cause of the disease. Earlier studies of immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease had produced serious side-effects, with treatment causing the immune system to overwork, causing swelling of the brain. The study revealed none of these side-effects. Why that is the case is not yet known, but it has been suggested that the beta amyloid is better targeted. The small trial - revealed at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia - has excited the medical community, and a larger study of 400 patients is expected to report back within 12 months. William Thies, scientific director of the Alzheimer's Association, said the results, although limited, were positive. It's tantalising. If you were to pick out four people with Alzheimer's disease, the likelihood that they would perform the same on standardised tests three years later is very, very tiny," he said. Considering that most people with Alzheimer's were likely to die within eight years of diagnosis, three years of no decline was "a long time," he added. We shouldn't get euphoric and we shouldn't get unreasonable enthusiasm, but this is a positive piece of data. Professor Clive Ballard, the director of research at the Alzheimer's Society, said if further trials proved effective and the drug could be made cost-effective it could be on shelves in 10 years. "This is probably the most exciting drug we know about that is currently in the late stages of research," he said. We now know it is safe but the real test will be whether these initial promising results can be replicated in larger groups. Dr Eric Karran, the head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, was cautious about the findings. "This small study has turned up some interesting results, but it's important to note that there were not enough people in this trial for us to draw any firm conclusions from the findings," he said. One limitation of this study was that after the initial six-month trial, all the participants received the same treatment, meaning the researchers did not have a control group to provide a comparison for their results. We would need to see results from large-scale clinical trials to tell whether this treatment has the potential to help people with Alzheimer's disease. One man taking the drug during the trial was diagnosed with Alzheimer's more than eight years ago and continues to get Gammagard infusions every two weeks. Jason Marder, 70, from New York City said in a recent interview: "I feel that I haven't gone down, and that's good. I feel good. I'm very independent. His wife, Karin Marder, said: "He has slowed down, no question about it. His walk is a little slower but that could also have a lot to do with age. He's still the Jason that I married. He's still there. We still have a wonderful relationship together. I'm grateful for every day that he's independent.