A new drug that goes by the name of Donanemab is being praised by scientists and onlookers alike after a global trial has found it slows down the effects of Alzheimer’s.
The medicine helps in the early states of the disease by clearing a protein which amasses in the brains of people with dementia. By clearing the protein, the drug slows the effects of cognitive decline by up to 35%.
The BBC reports that while the drug is not a cure, it does mark a ‘new era’ in which Alzheimer’s can be treated.
While the drug is now certainly effective against Alzheimer’s disease, unfortunately it does not work against other types of dementia. However, these are still early days and scientists remain hopeful that this is the beginning of something much bigger.
The UK’s drug watchdog is reportedly assessing the medicine for potential NHS use in the future.
The trials of Donanemab appear to show that the drug reduces the pace of Alzheimer’s by about a third, allowing those with the disease to continue carrying out their day-to-day activities instead of being completely controlled by the disease.
Following the findings, Alzheimer’s Research UK claimed: “We are entering a new era” where the disease “could become treatable.” Alzheimer’s Society retained the same level of hope, arguing with treatments such as Donanemab on the market, it could one day mean that Alzheimer’s is no more serious than asthma or diabetes.
They believe that this marks the ‘beginning of the end for Alzheimer’s’.
Unbelievable news.
