New Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease Show Promise

Researchers from pharmaceutical companies Biogen and Eisai recently announced promising results from a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease. They report a monoclonal antibody treatment, called lecanemab, “reduced cognitive decline by 27% in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s compared with those on a placebo after a year and a half.” 

While there are still a lot of questions as earlier studies with similar type drugs have cleared amyloid plaques in the brain, which are clumps of protein that disrupt neurons and other cells, they have not helped Alzheimer’s patient’s symptoms. According to researchers, lecanemab is the first to do so; however, the study only included 1795 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s. 

Scientists say one reason why lecanemab is showing positive results while other similar drugs have failed to do so, is that it does work a bit differently. Jonathan Jackson, a cognitive neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) explains the drug aducanumab primarily binds to amyloid protein after it has clumped together. Lecanemab starts working in an earlier stage, targeting “protofibrils.” These are strands that will most likely consolidate into plaque but haven’t done so yet. 

Although there are still a lot of questions regarding the efficacy of lecanemab, doctors hope future studies will provide a clearer picture. Meanwhile people and their families who participated in the study expressed gratitude at having the opportunity to wind up in a study “where the drug actually worked, against a backdrop of repeated failures to develop effective Alzheimer’s medications.”

MorningStar at Laurelhurst assisted living and memory care community is MorningStar’s newest retirement home in Portland, OR. With 83 assisted living suites in a variety of floorplans along with 32 suites devoted to those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory impairment in our distinct Reflections Neighborhood. We are situated in the historic Laurelhurst district, a neighborhood of vintage homes and undulating streets that straddle the NE and SE sections of Portland. Please contact us to reserve your select suite, we open to residents in winter 2023.

Source: 

science.org/content/article/five-big-questions-about-new-alzheimer-s-treatment#:~:text=Earlier%20this%20week%2C%20the%20pharmaceutical,on%20a%20placebo%20after%20astatnews.com/2022/10/20/front-of-alzheimers-patients-in-successful-drug-trial/