Giuseppe
Emeritus
Britain. Mad Cow Drug Ineffective - NYTimes.com
Britain: Mad Cow Drug Ineffective
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: March 10, 2009
An old antimalaria drug that showed promise in the laboratory against the abnormal proteins that cause mad cow disease and similar brain diseases does not lengthen victims? lives, a new study has found.
In 2001, doctors said experiments on mice had found that the drug, quinacrine, which is no longer used against malaria, blocked the formation of prions, the proteins that lead to mad cow and its human form, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Also, some families claimed their relatives had better motor functions while on the drug.
But a study of 107 British patients, published Monday in an online version of The Lancet, found ?no significant difference in survival.?
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<cite cite="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/europe/10briefs-MADCOWDRUGIN_BRF.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">World Briefing - Europe - Britain - Mad Cow Drug Ineffective - NYTimes.com</cite>By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: March 10, 2009
An old antimalaria drug that showed promise in the laboratory against the abnormal proteins that cause mad cow disease and similar brain diseases does not lengthen victims? lives, a new study has found.
In 2001, doctors said experiments on mice had found that the drug, quinacrine, which is no longer used against malaria, blocked the formation of prions, the proteins that lead to mad cow and its human form, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Also, some families claimed their relatives had better motor functions while on the drug.
But a study of 107 British patients, published Monday in an online version of The Lancet, found ?no significant difference in survival.?
-