‘Turning point’ — new drug found to slow progression of dementia

‘Turning point’ — new drug found to slow progression of dementia

 A new drug, donanemab, has been found to slow the
progression of Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia.

 

Alzheimer’s is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder
that leads to mild memory loss, and in some cases, the inability to carry on a
conversation and respond to the environment.

 

Donanemab, developed by Eli Lilly, works by removing plaques
of a protein called amyloid that builds up in the brain of people with
Alzheimer’s.

 

The drug only works in Alzheimer’s disease and not in other
types of dementia.

 

During the drug trials, researchers examined 1,736 people
aged 60 to 85 with early-stage Alzheimer’s.

 

For 18 months, half of them received a monthly infusion of
the treatment and the other half were given a placebo (false drug).

 

The patients were assessed in groups based on their levels
of another Alzheimer’s-associated protein, called tau.

 

The findings of the trials published in the journal of the
American Medical Association said after 76 weeks of treatment, donanemab slowed
clinical decline by 35.1 percent in people with early Alzheimer’s whose brain
scans showed low or medium levels of tau.

 

When the results were combined for people who had different
levels of this protein, there was a 22.3 percent slowing in disease
progression.

 

“Among participants with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease
and amyloid and tau pathology, donanemab significantly slowed clinical
progression at 76 weeks in those with low/medium tau and in the combined
low/medium and high tau pathology population,” the findings said.

 

But the drug was not without some side effects.

 

According to the published findings, up to a third of the
patients on donanemab experienced brain swelling.

 

For most, it resolved without causing symptoms. However,
three volunteers died as a result of the side effect.

 

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
(NICE), the health spending watchdog in England, is already assessing whether
the drug can be used in the National Health Service (NHS).

 

Sky News quoted Richard Oakley, associate director of
research at Alzheimer’s Society, as saying the drug is a “turning point in the
fight against Alzheimer’s and science is proving that it is possible to slow
down the disease”.

 

 “Treatments like
donanemab are the first steps towards a future where Alzheimer’s disease could
be considered a long-term condition alongside diabetes or asthma – people may
have to live with it, but they could have treatments that allow them to
effectively manage their symptoms and continue to live fulfilled lives,” the
doctor said.

 

Donanemab is similar to lecanemab which the United States
had approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: ‘Turning point’ — new drug found to slow progression of dementia

 - NigerianEye
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