Promising New Alzheimer’s Drug
Scientists do not know the cause of Alzheimer’s, but abnormal protein clumps (plaques and tangles) are always present with the disease. A promising new Alzheimer’s drug (antibody) called aducanumab might remove these toxic proteins from the brain. The results, reported on 31 August 2016 in Nature1, showed that aducanumab successfully broke up amyloid-β proteins in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. The trial focused on safety, and so the final word on whether aducanumab works to stop memory and cognitive losses will have to wait until the completion of two larger phase III trials that are underway but will run through 2020.
It is important to remember that other drugs which performed well in early trials, later proved to not work, or had significant side effects. For aducanumab (we are not sure who comes up with drug names), there were reported side effects in some participants who were on higher dosages, including minor brain swelling and headaches. So while this clinical trial does show a “breakthrough”, science is still a long way away from being able to help your loved one suffering today.
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