The drugs, all available in generic form, appear to block formation of sticky wads of protein called amyloid plaques that build up in brains of Alzheimer's patients. Caffeine and fish oil were found to reduce the plaques in animals, scientists said at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego.
As people live longer and the number of Alzheimer's cases increases, drugmakers are investing billions of dollars to develop new treatments. If widely available medicines and substances such as fish oil and caffeine help, that could ease the suffering and prolong the independence of millions of elderly people, researchers said at the meeting.