DRUG PREPARATION COMPRISING .ALPHA.-LIPOIC ACID, AMBROXOL AND/OR INHIBITORS OF THE ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME (ACE) AND ITS USE FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

The present invention concerns the use of a drug composition for the prevention and the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases (for example ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, focal and global ischemia, amyotrophic lateral slerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease , Parkinson's disease, Hunntington's disease, multiple sclerosis). The combination of effective agents comprises at least two of the following substances: .alpha.-lipoic acid; ambroxol and one or several inhibitors) of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). It could surprisingly be found in the experiments on which the invention is based that neuronal cells which are particularly sensitive to degenerative insults, have less free constitutiona l thiol groups than have other cells of the central nervous system (CNS). It was demonstrated th at this reduced content of free thiol groups is causally connected to the damaging of those cells after a degenerative event. By using the combination of .alpha.-lipoic acid, ambroxo l and/or an ACE inhibitor, the damage after a neurodegenerative insult could be reduced by 4 0 to 45 %.