By Robert Preidt
Published Week of June 24-June 30 

(HealthDay News) -- Alzheimer's disease patients who have a better understanding of their condition seem to be more willing to accept potentially risky treatments, a U.S. study finds.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania interviewed 34 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's who lived in the community. The patients were asked if they would want to take medications that would delay the progression of Alzheimer's for one year. The patients were told the risk of the treatments ranged from a 30 percent chance of pain to a 10 percent chance of death.

Patients with more insight into their symptoms, diagnosis and prognosis were generally more risk-tolerant, the study found. Patients who were willing to accept increased risk also were more likely to be judged competent to make a treatment decision and more capable of analyzing the risks, benefits and purpose of a medication.

"From the patient perspective, the willingness to take a risky Alzheimer's treatment is more driven by their awareness of their illness and their capacity to understand, appreciate and reason through a treatment's purpose, benefits and risks to themselves, and not so much on the severity of their Alzheimer's disease," study author Jason Karlawish, an associate professor of medicine and associate director of the university's Memory Center, said in a prepared statement.

The study was to be presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Prevention of Dementia, in Washington, D.C.

This type of research may help drug companies, doctors and regulatory agencies better understand Alzheimer's patients' willingness to accept risky treatments, he said.

Karlawish noted that several treatments currently being tested may "present more than minimal risks to patients. For example, researchers had to stop one of the early studies of the anti-amyloid vaccination because subjects developed encephalitis, a dangerous inflammation of the brain."

In a second study presented at the conference, researchers conducted an Internet survey of 2,146 Americans, aged 60 and older. They found they were willing to accept a 46.8 percent increase in the risk of death or disability for treatments that would prevent mild Alzheimer's from progressing to more serious stages.

"This survey is the first to our knowledge that is able to quantify this fear of Alzheimer's in a manner that could be useful to health authorities as they plan for the increase in Alzheimer's brought on by the aging of our population," study author Reed Johnson, senior fellow and principal economist at RTI Health Solutions, said in a prepared statement.

More information

The Alzheimer's Association outlines treatment options for Alzheimer's disease.

SOURCE: Alzheimer's Association, News Release

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.