AAIC: Hints That New Drug May Slow Alzheimer’s Progression

The drugs aim to block the formation of a protein called beta amyloid, which is believed to cause the toxic brain plaques that are considered a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

The results, she added, may not only help patients with Alzheimer’s disease, but those with other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Lewy Body dementia.

The findings, presented Wednesday to a standing-room-only crowd of doctors and patients at the Alzheimer’s Association global Conference 2015, suggest – on paper, at least – that the drugs may slow the decline of people who are treated early in the course of the disease, reported WebMD. This number is only expected to increase along with the cost of the disease. Finally, a six-month study of 71 adults 56-96 years old with vascular cognitive impairment found that participating in a supervised aerobic exercise program was associated with improvements in memory and attention. “But what you’re hearing here represents solid advances, both in technology, in conceptualisation and – at a practical level, as two of the studies talk about – in figuring out what’s the right dose”.

Now, a new trial is claiming it can slow the progress of the disease – if it is given early enough to patients. This is supported by the fact that almost two-thirds of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s are women.

Previous studies have been ineffective at treating Alzheimer’s disease. After 18 months, there were no significant differences between the groups on cognitive tests, although people with mild disease seemed to show signs of improvement.

There were no differences between the two groups on cognitive performance at one year.

Although analyses are now ongoing, preliminary results indicate a higher proportion of patients in the immediate feedback group had significantly more changes to their baseline management plan compared with those in the delayed feedback group, reported by Pontecorvo.

Biogen’s drug, aducanumab, which is in development and designed to flush beta amyloid deposits from brains in the early stages of degeneration, has already produced results that appear promising, researchers said. But dementia researchers meeting in Washington, D.C., this week got some unexpectedly good news on the benefits of a therapy that is readily available, cheap to deliver and free of unwanted side effects.

All patients underwent florbetapir PET scans and were randomly assigned to either immediate or delayed (one year) feedback about their PET amyloid status.

Philip Scheltens, a professor of cognitive neurology and director of the Alzheimer’s Centre at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said the results suggest that the dose of gantenerumab used so far was too low and that the drug should be tested further at higher doses.

“Alzheimer’s is a very complex condition that has been extremely hard to address with the “one-target, one-treatment” approach that has been successful in other diseases”, said Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Assn.

“It’s not like there’s nothing out there; it’s not like there’s nowhere to go”, said Petersen, who also chairs the national Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care and Services.

The trial reflects current physician behavior and available treatments.