NEW YORK (AP) — Alzheimer's disease patients who are taking a commonly prescribed drug can still benefit from it after they progress to moderate-to-severe illness, when it can be tough to tell whether it's doing any good, a new study says.

The study of Aricept also found some benefit if the patient switches to another frequently used drug, Namenda. But it found that combining the two drugs, a common strategy in the United States, was not significantly more effective than using Aricept alone.

That last finding conflicts with an earlier study, and experts said it would probably not change what most doctors do in the United States.

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