CAMPAIGNERS in Oxfordshire have welcomed a decision by a health watchdog to allow access to previously denied Alzheimer’s drugs.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) sparked outrage from Alzheimer’s sufferers in 2006 and 2007 when it ruled the key medicines would only be available to people in moderate stages of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is a degenerative condition of the brain which leads to dementia, and although the drugs are not a cure, they can slow its progression.

Supporters argued it was cruel and unethical to force patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s to wait until they became worse before they could get the drugs.

In its latest draft guidance, Nice said the medicines, called Reminyl, Aricept and Excelon, should now be made available to people with mild forms of the disease – potentially benefiting hundreds of younger county sufferers.

Chris Storey, from Wallingford, said her mother Ellen Storey, 89, had been taking the drug for the past five years.

Ms Storey, one of many carers at the Oxfordshire branch of the Alzheimer’s Society who fought plans in 2006 to stop NHS doctors prescribing the drugs, said Aricept had ‘given her her mother back’.

Ms Storey added: “I am happy about the decision, but I’m just so sad for all the people who have been waiting for this period.

“When mum started to take the drug she got her character back, and we got her back.

“She will be 90 this year and her Alzheimer’s hasn’t progressed since she started taking Aricept.”