Small Solace

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD TERMINAL ILLness, but people who know Alzheimer's disease consider it one of the worst. Its slow and agonizing course leads inexorably from memory lapses to personality changes to utter loss of intellectual functions to certain death. The emotional toll on the estimated 4 million Americans who suffer from the disease and on their families is incalculable; the bills for nursing care are enormous.

That is why the advice of a Food and Drug Administration panel is being widely hailed. The committee urged the FDA to approve a new drug, tacrine, as the first treatment ever for Alzheimer's. Tacrine is no cure. It just slows the disease's progress, and only for about 20% of sufferers. Considering the horrific nature of the illness, the panel felt that even a little relief is better than none. While the FDA doesn't have to go along, it probably will.