On Tuesday, during the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Chicago, Scottish researchers announced the discovery of a new drug which has proven very effective in stopping the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Methylthioninium chloride’s (MTC) action consists in the dissolvement of the protein webs that are formed in the brains of Alzheimer patients. If the drug is administered over a 50 week period in 60-mg doses, it can reduce the patients’ cognitive decline by a surprising 81 percent.

Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of Alzheimer's research at the National Institute on Aging, talked very enthusiastically about Rember, saying that the recently announced results were the first very positive ones she had seen. 

The scientists of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland initially carried out a double-blind randomized testing of MTC on 321 patients from the United Kingdom and Singapore. Once this was completed, a 60-week blinded study followed.

According to Claude Wischik, professor in Mental Health at the University of Aberdeen, this is the first clinical trial evidence that a therapy actually works and modifies the condition’s evolution. He went on to say that the next step would be another trial that would confirm these excellent results.

As found in the records of the Alzheimer's Society of Canada, more than 300,000 Canadians with ages over 65 are currently suffering from the disease and 97,000 more are expected to develop the condition this year.

In the US, things are even worse; about five million people are currently affected by Alzheimer's disease and by 2050, their number may reach no less than16 million.