Scientists Find Drug That Appears to Slow Progression of Alzheimer's Disease

In the video above, Dr. Matthew Norton, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, discusses the new drug.

Scientists appear to have made a breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease, announcing test results for a drug that seems to slow the pace of mental decline.

The Guardian reports:

The drug, called solanezumab, was shown to stave off memory loss in patients with mild Alzheimer’s over the course of several years. The effects would have been barely discernible to patients or their families, scientists said, and it is no cure. But the wider implications of the results have been hailed as “hugely significant” because it is the first time any medicine has slowed the rate at which the disease damages the brain.

“This is the first evidence of something genuinely modifying the disease process,” said Dr Eric Karran, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK. “It’s a breakthrough in my mind. The history of medicine suggests that once you get through that door you can explore further therapeutic opportunities much more aggressively. It makes us less helpless.”

Existing drugs help with the symptoms but ultimately do nothing to slow the disease’s progression. … When scientists analysed the data more closely, they found that in the 1,300 patients with mild dementia, those who had been placed on the drug showed a roughly 30% slower decline in memory and cognitive tests than those who had taken a placebo during the 18-month trial.