Researchers report that patients who take Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride tablets), a drug designed to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate Alzheimer's, have substantially lower health care costs than patients who don't receive treatment.

"The cost savings associated with Aricept treatment resulted from the preservation of cognitive function in (Alzheimer's disease) patients," researchers concluded. "This may have led to improvement in medication compliance and medical management."

The study, which appeared in the peer-reviewed journal, Managed Care Interface, was based on a retrospective analysis of cases from a large Medicare managed care plan.

Researchers compared medical costs for 204 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease who received Aricept to a control group of 204 Alzheimer's patients who had matching characteristics but were not taking the drug.

They found that annual costs for patients taking Aricept for short-term treatment (less than nine months) were $3,579 lower than for untreated patients.

Other sources: Managed care Interface