Alzheimer’s disease is complex, and it is therefore unlikely that any one drug or other intervention will ever successfully treat it in all people living with the disease. Still, in recent years, scientists have made tremendous progress in better understanding Alzheimer’s and in developing and testing new treatments, including several medications that are in late-stage clinical trials.Several prescription drugs are already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help manage symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. And, on June 7, 2021, FDA provided accelerated approval for the newest medication, aducanumab, which helps to reduce amyloid deposits in the brain and may help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, although it has not yet been shown to affect clinical symptoms or outcomes, such as progression of cognitive decline or dementia.As Alzheimer’s progresses, the brain produces less and less acetylcholine, so these medicines may eventually lose their effect. Because cholinesterase inhibitors work in a similar way, switching from one to another may not produce significantly different results, but a person living with Alzheimer’s may respond better to one drug versus another.Medications that target the underlying causes of a disease are called disease-modifying drugs or therapies. Aducanumab is the only disease-modifying medication currently approved to treat Alzheimer’s. This medication is a human antibody, or immunotherapy, that targets the protein beta-amyloid and helps to reduce amyloid plaques, which are brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s. Clinical studies to determine the effectiveness of aducanumab were conducted only in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-alzheimers-disease-treated
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
