A new drug might turn out to be the best new weapon against Alzheimer’s disease. An antibody treatment called aducanumab appears to clear the brain of sticky amyloid-beta plaques, long thought to be a significant factor in the brain deterioration that accompanies the disease.
One theory, the amyloid hypothesis, states that the abnormal protein buildup is a primary cause of Alzheimer’s. The plaques choke vital areas of the brain and destroy nerve cells. Other theories suggest that the buildup may just be a symptom, with the cause lying elsewhere. This new treatment will finally enable researchers to test the amyloid hypothesis, since aducanumab appears seems very effective in clearing the brain of these protein deposits.
Plans for larger clinical trials are underway. If the results can be replicated, aducanumab might enable doctors to halt or even reverse the disease.
In a recent study of 165 patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease, aducanumab was shown to considerably reduce the buildup of amyloid-beta proteins. With high doses, the drug appeared to completely eliminate the plaques from subject’s brains. Treated patients also did better on cognitive tests than patients receiving the placebo.
Plans for larger clinical trials are underway. If the results can be replicated, aducanumab might enable doctors to halt or even reverse the disease.
Read more about it in the Science News article “Year in review: Alzheimer’s drug may clarify disease’s origins” by Laura Sanders.
