Alzheimers drug may restore speech in stroke sufferers

Spanish researchers have found that Alzheimers drug Donepezil may help people who have had a stroke speak again.

London, May 14 : Spanish researchers have found that Alzheimer's drug Donepezil may help people who have had a stroke speak again.

Marcelo Berthier of the M dico-Sanitarias Research Centre in Malaga, Spain, says that the drug works by boosting neurons' ability to communicate.

The researchers wanted to find out whether Donepezil might benefit people with aphasia, a condition characterised by an inability to pronounce or comprehend speech, of which stroke is the most common cause.

They conducted experiments on 26 people with the condition, the preliminary results of which showed that participants taking 10 milligrams of donepezil per day were better able to express and comprehend language after 16 weeks than those given a placebo.

Berthier presented the findings at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston, the New Scientist reports.

ANI