In January, an expert advisory panel of the FDA debated whether florbetapir was  
ready for marketing. The group did not suggest that the FDA approve the drug at  
this time. Still, the experts said they made the judgment based on available  
information. And they asked for more information. They also set conditions for  
accepting florbetapir. 
One condition is for the manufacturer to show evidence that florbetapir correctly  
identifies plaques. The other condition is that the manufacturer prepare a training  
program for experts in nuclear medicine. The advisory panel said the doctors reading  
the test need additional education to correctly identify the plaques. 
The Food and Drug Administration will decide next month whether to accept the  
panel’s suggestions. The FDA normally follows the advice of its expert advisers, but  
not always. 
If it is approved, florbetapir would be the first agent permitted to measure plaque  
deposits in living patients. Still, the presence of plaques does not prove that a patient  
has Alzheimer’s disease. Doctors say some people with amyloid plaques in their  
brains do not have the condition. 
An estimated thirty million people around the world have Alzheimer’s disease. In  
the United States alone, more than five million people suffer from this presently  
incurable brain disorder. 
Alzheimer’s affects memory and personality -- those qualities that make a person an  
individual. At first, people with the condition forget simple things, like where they  
left the keys to their car. But as time passes, they forget more and more. They may  
forget what a key is used for. 
Patients forget the names of their husbands, wives or children. Then they forget who  
they are. 
Finally, they remember almost nothing. It is as if their brains die before the other  
parts of the body. Victims of Alzheimer’s do die from its effects or conditions linked  
to it. But death may not come for many years. 
Dementia is the loss of thinking ability that is severe enough to interfere with daily  
activities. It is not a disease itself. Instead, dementia is a group of signs of some  
conditions and diseases.