Medical Resource Value Appraisal for Leucojum aestivum in Turkey

• Published in: American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias 2014-08, Vol.29 (5), p.448-451
• Main Author: Demir, Aynur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - drug therapy; Amaryllidaceae; Cholinesterase Inhibitors - economics; Current Topics in Research; Galantamine - economics; Humans; Plants, Medicinal; Turkey
• ISSN: 1533-3175; 1938-2731
• DOI: 10.1177/1533317514535334

In this study, we investigate the medical and economical value of Leucojum aestivum. Leucojum aestivum contains the alkaloid galanthamine, which is one of the main active substances in Reminyl, a commonly used drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this analysis, we estimate that there are 13 million mild to moderate patients with Alzheimer’s who use Reminyl. Our results suggest that the market change value of L aestivum required for 1 unit of Reminyl is US$62. The value of total change of galanthamine and L aestivum is estimated to be US$18.6 billion per year. Alzheimer’s drugs that use L aestivum are relatively expensive, ranging in cost from US$183 to more than US$400 per month. The minimum annual cost of this is US$2196 per person for “patients with mild and moderate stage AD.” The using value of 6 million units of L aestivum bulbs, which is the amount exported from Turkey, is estimated to be US$27 million per year. The determined value for L aestivum is equivalent to the value of a rare flower that can be used to treat the serious illness of AD.