The drug didn’t reverse the disease – meaning it didn’t restore the person’s previous pre-Alzheimer’s function. However, what it did do was slow the rate of further progression of the disease.
Lots of hype, little real help is the usual thing with news about treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease but reputable experts worldwide say that this latest news about a new drug treatment is the best news yet.
In tests on people with mild Alzheimer’s disease, a drug known as solanezumab has been shown to slow the rate of cognitive decline by about a third (34 per cent).
The drug didn’t reverse the disease – meaning it didn’t restore the person’s previous pre-Alzheimer’s function. However, what it did do was slow the rate of further progression of the disease.
The drug seems to work best if given early in the disease progression. In the first stage of the study, solanezumab failed to treat full-blown or moderate Alzheimer’s, but it did appear to help slow mental decline in patients with mild disease. This led the researchers to go back and focus on those people in the early stages of the disease.
The mechanics
The drug, solanezumab, from pharmaceutical manufacturer, Eli Lilly is known as an ‘anti-amyloid antibody’. Amyloid is a protein normally produced in the brain that can build up in older people, forming amyloid ‘plaque’ deposits.
Scientists believe this build-up of deposits may play a key role in the eventual development of Alzheimer’s disease-related memory loss. If the drug can prevent the build up of these amyloid plaques then the hope is that people will be able to retain more of their cognitive and functional ability and for longer.
Researchers are also testing the drug even earlier – on people who might be at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease but have not developed any symptoms.
A related three year study, called the A4 Study, involving solanezumab for people in this pre-symptomatic phase is currently underway across 60 research sites in the United States, Canada and Australia (Melbourne University). It is attempting to learn whether the drug can prevent the series of changes to the brain that lead to memory loss, cognitive impairment and, eventually, death. It began in June 2014 and has less than two years left to run.
The diagnostic challenge
The findings raise other questions of course – in particular around the problem of identifying those people in the very early stages or at future risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some scientists have said that vast improvements will be needed in testing and diagnosis of those at risk of Alzheimer’s Disease or who are in the very early stages, if drugs like this are to be really useful.
The results of the study were presented last week in Washington DC at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2015 and the results were simultaneously published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Investigations.
