New Alzheimer's treatment slows brain damage
A group of researchers has confirmed the effectiveness of a new drug for Alzheimer's, after a clinical trial confirmed that it slows the disease's destruction of the brain and reduces cognitive decline in patients with early stages of the disease.
According to the British "BBC", this drug, which scientists described as a "scientific breakthrough", ends decades of failure in creating effective treatments for Alzheimer's.
Currently, people with Alzheimer's disease are given certain medications to help manage their symptoms, but these drugs cannot change the course of the disease, which affects some 30 million people worldwide.
The new drug, called "lecanimab", attacks the "beta-amyloid" protein, which builds up in the brains of infected people.
The researchers conducted a clinical trial of the drug on 1795 volunteers suffering from the disease in its early stages.
Infusions of lecanimab were given to the participants over the course of 18 months.
In the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the team found that the drug slowed the disease's destruction of the brain by 27 percent.
A number of health experts said that although this effect is somewhat "minor", it offers great hope that the disease can be effectively treated in the future.
Bart de Strooper, director of Dementia Research UK at University College London, said the drug was the first of its kind "to provide a real treatment option for Alzheimer's patients".
The data and results of the study are currently being evaluated by US regulators, who will soon decide whether the drug can be approved for widespread use.
The two companies that developed the drug, the Japanese company Eisai and the American company Biogen Pharmaceuticals, plan to obtain approval for the drug in other countries next year.
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