In the Creating Health post I wrote last week titled “Can Alzheimer’s Disease be avoided?” I talked about the importance of getting enough sleep, and getting it at the right time of day, to avoid the accumulation of toxic Aβ plaques in the central nervous system. Healthy sleep practices are very important to continued mental health as we age. However, just having healthy sleep habits may not be enough to guarantee that you will retain your full cognitive powers for as long as you live.
This raises the question as to whether there might be a pharmaceutical intervention that could prevent the accumulation of Aβ plaques in a person’s brain, and perhaps even eliminate any such plaques that are already present. To answer this question, research groups are investigating several different drugs to see if Aβ plaques already present in the brain can be eliminated. These drugs are currently undergoing clinical trials.
The ALZFORUM.org Web site recently published an article titled “On Donanemab, Plaques Plummet, Off Donanemab, They Stay Away.” This sounds very promising, particularly if a drastic reduction in Aβ plaques is correlated with an improved prognosis for Alzheimer’s patients. The ALZFORUM.org site is a resource for people who have family members or friends that are contending with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the article cited above, three drugs that have recently been in clinical trials as treatments of AD are discussed:
- Aducanumab
- Lecanemab
- Donanemab
Aducanumab received FDA approval on June 7, 2021, but a firestorm of controversy erupted around that approval. Many experts asserted that there was not sufficient evidence that the drug was effective at slowing the cognitive decline of patients. At a projected cost of $56,000 per year, most people would be looking for a little more assurance that the drug actually works.
Lecanemab is in the middle of a clinical trial due to be completed by September 2022. It has been given a Breakthrough Therapy designation to fast-track it, based on promising preliminary results.
Donanemab is the subject of the ALZFORUM.org article referenced above. It has completed Phase 2 of its clinical trial and preliminary results look promising. In the trial:
- Aβ plaques declined
- Plasma p-tau217 ((tau tangles) declined
- Cognitive decline slowed
- After clearance of Aβ and switch from drug to placebo, plaque levels remained low for at least a year
Like lecanemab, donanemab has also received a Breakthrough Therapy designation. At the end of its 76-week trial, there was a 32 percent slowing of decline on the Integrated Alzheimer’s Disease Rating Scale, and by 24 weeks donanemab had completely cleared plaques from 40% of the members of the treatment group. By trial’s end, 68% of the subjects had reached normal levels.
Until recently, family members and friends have had little reason to hope that Alzheimer’s patients would ever be able to halt the downward slide of their cognitive powers. To be sure, none of the three drugs discussed here could be classified as a cure. However, these three drugs are helping, and there is reason to believe that even more effective treatments will be found that will do an even better job of stemming the loss of cognitive ability that up until now has been inexorable and inevitable. The longer we can hold onto our cognitive powers, the greater the chance that ever more effective treatments will be found. There is ample reason for hope.
BIO:
Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org.