Slashdot linked up this Forbes.com article detailing new developments in the effort to create a vaccine for Alzheimer's. By using techniques similar to those being used for Huntington's disease (discussed here), scientists in Japan have developed a vaccine which has proven very effective in mice. Clinical trials in primates are under way, and if things go well there and in subsequent human trials a drug could be brought to market in perhaps 7 years or so.

However, it's a big jump from mice to men, so scientists are still extremely cautious. The article also notes there are many other efforts underway to treat/cure/prevent the disease using a variety of different techniques.