Wednesday 20, October 2010

NICE update guidance on Alzheimer's drugs

NICE have published a new draft consultation regarding the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. The Department of Health have asked NICE to review technology appraisal guidance 111 on using donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine in the NHS in England and Wales. If approved this guidance will update previous recommendations for the use of the these drugs for patients who are in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. 

The appraisal consultation paper summarises the evidence and sets out the draft recommendations made by the appraisal committee. The paper should be read in conjunction with the evaluation report.

The closing date for comments on the appraisal is 28th October 2010.

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Later life is now on Facebook!

Our new Facebook page posts the latest reports and guidelines from the Department of Health and NICE. It also features all of the latest systematic reviews from The Cochrane Library that we have included in our collection.

You can also find out what we are working on at the moment and tell us what you would like to see in this newsletter and on the collection!

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New Guidance & Reports

New Guidance from:

Department of Health:

• Quality outcomes for people with dementia: building on the work of the National Dementia Strategy
• Essence of Care 2010

New reports from:

UK National Screening Committee:

• The UK NSC policy on Alzheimer's Disease screening in adults

World Health Organisation:

• World Alzheimer report 2010: The global economic impact of dementia

The Scottish Government:

• Scotland's National Dementia Strategy

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Systematic Reviews

New or updated systematic reviews from the Cochrane Library:

• Percutaneous vascular interventions for acute ischaemic stroke
• Interventions to increase influenza vaccination rates of those 60 years and older in the community
• Stem cell transportation for ischemic stroke 

Reviews from DARE:

• A systematic review of community-based health interventions on depression for older adults with heart disease
• Antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological problems in elderly people with dementia: a systematic review of adverse events
• Effects of task-oriented circuit class training on walking competency after stroke: a systematic review
• Exercise for fall risk reduction in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review
• Interventions to reduce the incidence of falls in older adult patients in acute-care hospitals: a systematic review
  
• Quality of life as an outcome of fall prevention interventions among the aged: a systematic review
• Surface-applied functional electrical stimulation for orthotic and therapeutic treatment of drop-foot after stroke: a systematic review
• The effects of exercise on balance in persons with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review across the disability spectrum
• The effects of exercise on cognition in older adults with and without cognitive decline: a systematic review

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Health Technology Assessments

• Blood test for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
• Early-onset familial Alzheimers disease (EOFAD; AD1, AD3, and AD4 )
• Functional electrical stimulation (FES) for upper extremity rehabilitation post stroke
• Late-onset familial alzheimer disease (AD2)
• Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) test (PLAC Test) (diaDexus Inc.) for frediction of ischemic stroke
  

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In the news

A round up of later life stories in the papers from Behind the Headlines:

• Memory drug studied in mice
• NICE updates Alzheimer's drugs guidance
• Protein grants long life (to mice)
• Brain toll of rationing studied
• Grip test predicts early death
• Vitamin B clue to dementia
• Puzzling claims over brain games

BBC News Health:

• Walking ' could ward off dementia and mental decline'

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Essential Links

• NHS Evidence - later life homepage
• Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Annual Evidence Update 2010
• Supporting People in Later Life Annual Evidence Update 2010 

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