Experimental Alzheimer's Drug Slows Cognitive Declines in Large Trial, Drugmaker Eli Lilly Says (cnn.com) 41
An experimental Alzheimer's medication slowed declines in patients' ability to think clearly and perform daily tasks by more than a third in a large clinical trial, drugmaker Eli Lilly said Wednesday. From a report: Based on the results, in people with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, Lilly said it plans to file for approval from the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of June. The medicine, donanemab, works by removing plaque buildups in the brain known as amyloid that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. However, there were some side effects reported; there were three deaths in the trial among people taking the drug, two of which were attributed to adverse events such as brain swelling or microhemorrhages, known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities or ARIA. The trial was run in more than 1,700 patients for 18 months.
"For every medicine, for every disease, there are potential risks and potential benefits," said Lilly's chief scientific and medical officer, Dr. Daniel Skovronsky. But he noted that almost half of the participants taking the drug, 47%, showed no decline on a key measure of cognition over the course of a year, compared with 29% of people taking a placebo. That's "the kind of efficacy that's never been seen before in Alzheimer's disease," Skovronsky said. Alzheimer's affects more than 6 million Americans, with an estimated 1.7 million to 2 million people over 65 in the early stages of the disease, according to Lilly. Drug development for Alzheimer's has been riddled with failures, but Lilly's drug is among a new group showing promise. The first, Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi, received accelerated FDA approval in January.
"For every medicine, for every disease, there are potential risks and potential benefits," said Lilly's chief scientific and medical officer, Dr. Daniel Skovronsky. But he noted that almost half of the participants taking the drug, 47%, showed no decline on a key measure of cognition over the course of a year, compared with 29% of people taking a placebo. That's "the kind of efficacy that's never been seen before in Alzheimer's disease," Skovronsky said. Alzheimer's affects more than 6 million Americans, with an estimated 1.7 million to 2 million people over 65 in the early stages of the disease, according to Lilly. Drug development for Alzheimer's has been riddled with failures, but Lilly's drug is among a new group showing promise. The first, Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi, received accelerated FDA approval in January.
who's really affected? (Score:4, Informative)
The patient with Alzheimer beyond early stages doesn't really care, it's a walking corpse rather than a human as his ability to think is gone. But his whole family is fucked. My mom, instead of enjoying retirement as she planned to, keeps wiping grandma's excrements all the day, tries to tell her she's not going to work or "home", and so on. And because of religious beliefs and the stigma that applies to anyone who "gives away" their parent, mom won't even consider a retirement home. Dad is more and more bitter, their siblings and friends don't even visit anymore. All while the mom, being in good physical and mental shape (although both keep declining because of sitting home wiping poo) doesn't get to leave the house for more than a quick groceries run.
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Tell them to buy a cheap $65 bidet for the toilet (screw it on really tight). No more wiping poo. A god send for people in that position.
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Sorry not sorry but that does nothing when the accident happens in the living room.
From one whoâ(TM)s had to deal with it.
I question the value of any drug that prolongs the misery of this disease by prolonging the inevitable. After losing a spouse and a parent to this in the past two years I know if I ever get a dementia diagnosis I want to die the next day with dignity rather than put my children through the horror of care.
Re:who's really affected? (Score:5, Insightful)
What if after getting diagnosed a person was able to live at least a semi normal life for several more years more than they normally would thanks to this drug? Seems like that's a win for them and a win for their family.
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What if after getting diagnosed a person was able to live for several more years ... a win for their family.
Depends on how much it costs. And whether the family wants them around or not.
PS: Summary says "by a third" which wouldn't be "several more years".
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PS: Summary says "by a third" which wouldn't be "several more years".
Someone isnt as familiar as they think they are in regards to Alzheimer's https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis... [mayoclinic.org] . Some make it as long as 20 years.
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I question the value of any drug that prolongs the misery of this disease by prolonging the inevitable.
Me too.
Everybody around Alzheimer's just wants it to be over ASAP, including the sufferer.
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Doesn't your grandmother wear a diaper? Why not get her to wear them?
Does your mother have siblings or anyone else that can help? Or have insurance or can sign up with a program that will send an aide to help out?
BTW, I'm also dealing with this and have had my mother had far worse than poo in the living room. We've had fecal matter "trails" from when she steps in it and tracks it throughout the house or leaves a trail of handprints all over the walls, have woken up to a bathroom that looked like a crime
Re:who's really affected? (Score:4, Insightful)
I question the value of any drug that prolongs the misery of this disease by prolonging the inevitable.
The point is that it slows the initial progression of the disease so that you have more years when the sufferer may get a bit confused from time to time but is still themselves and still capable of enjoying life. Once they have "checked out" - which was how we described it with my dad - then except for the occasional flash they are no longer really there and the drug would be pointless.
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Oh look... beginnings vs becomings... again
I get diagnosed, I want to call it quits whilst I am still legally "competent" to do so. Waiting until I'm fully farked helps absolutely nobody.
In any rational society we would be allowed to pull the eject button. Thanks to "feelings", religious delusion, ignorance and the rabid application of law by the "concerned" insurance industry - we're not allowed to.
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I get diagnosed, I want to call it quits whilst I am still legally "competent" to do so.
Nobody can stop you from doing this if that's what you really want to do. It may be illegal for someone to help you commit suicide but someone just diagnosed with the disease does not need any help and is capable of doing it without help.
The reason for the strong prohibitions against assisted suicide have less to do with religious convictions and far more to do with ensuring that murders cannot happen under the guise of assisted suicide because generally, the people who need assistance are vulnerable in
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And because of religious beliefs and the stigma that applies to anyone who "gives away" their parent, mom won't even consider a retirement home.
They treat elderly like subhumans at retirement homes, particularly if they're afflicted. Are you really thinking that the grass would be greener? It wouldn't. I took care of my father before he died and now take care of my mother, who has dementia. As bad as it is, the alternative would be much worse. Your mother would be despondent if she sent her mother to a home and it turned out that her mother was routinely abused and treated like yesterday's garbage. You have no idea how bad it can get in these homes
Re:who's really affected? (Score:4, Informative)
The patient with Alzheimer beyond early stages doesn't really care, it's a walking corpse rather than a human as his ability to think is gone.
I've had 3 family members that had Alzheimer's, two of which I helped care for in adulthood and buried, and none of that was ever true. They were thinking and speaking and communicating right up to the day they died. They just didn't have the sense of place or time that "normal" people do. They would often ask about people long dead, for example. They would temporarily think they were in another time period. The all spoke less than they used to, but came nowhere near being "zombies". And, until the last couple of months, they all still had periods of clarity where they knew exactly where and when they were. The severity of memory issues came and went. There were good days, and bad days.
But his whole family is fucked. My mom, instead of enjoying retirement as she planned to, keeps wiping grandma's excrements all the day, tries to tell her she's not going to work or "home", and so on. And because of religious beliefs and the stigma that applies to anyone who "gives away" their parent, mom won't even consider a retirement home. Dad is more and more bitter, their siblings and friends don't even visit anymore. All while the mom, being in good physical and mental shape (although both keep declining because of sitting home wiping poo) doesn't get to leave the house for more than a quick groceries run.
I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic here, of if that's a straight account of your family life. It is a lot of work. There is a lot of heartbreak. There is shit to be cleaned up. But, I hate to tell you... the shit part is pretty common with age no matter what one's condition. As is some cognitive decline. That's baked into being human.
As for the "because of religious beliefs and stigma", one doesn't have to be religious to love their parents/grandparents, and not want them to suffer in some home where minimum wage workers who couldn't give a shit less about your family abuse them, and even beat them. I'm sure you've seen the legion of news articles about nursing home abuses and low quality care. Part of family is being taken care of by the ones you love. Ultimately, it's worth the cost and hassle.
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>I've had 3 family members that had Alzheimer's, two of which I helped care for in adulthood and buried, and none of that was ever true. They were thinking and speaking and communicating right up to the day they died.
It's actually kind of amazing - the brain is slowly turning to swiss cheese as bits of it fail, but somehow it keeps routing around the damage right up until the final insurmountable failure.
What I've observed is that the affected person get 'vague'. They're slower to think, their ability t
The problem there is your mom's codependence (Score:2)
Until she addresses that, nothing changes.
Probably something from her childhood that makes her feel that way, but it has to be her that makes the change, no one else can help.
I do have sympathy but I have lived this problem, and my sympathy and your good wishes and desire to help, don't.
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Alzheimer's patients don't go to a "retirement home." They go to a nursing home. Check the price of those (can be $50k/yr), and you'll see why your mom has to do it herself. In addition, even the best nursing homes treat the patients like shit, which is one reason all those people died in the earlier parts of covid.
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Youâ(TM)re an idiot and misinformed. The people Iâ(TM)ve known with this disease were active and non-drinkers.
Re:This is your future (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not sure how you got all that stupid in your head but Alzheimer's isnt the exclusive domain of alcoholics and drug users by a massive long shot https://www.alz.org/alzheimers... [alz.org]
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So you're stupid and illiterate?
This may be your future regardless (Score:5, Insightful)
How about don't do drugs or drink alcohol. Eat right and stay active. Then this wouldn't occur.
My dad ate right and stayed active and yet he still got and died from Alzheimer's. Anyone can get the disease no matter what they do. Just like cancer, there are things you can do that may lower your risk but there is nothing you can do to eliminate it.
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Yes, we should definitely all live in a padded room our entire lives to prevent this horrible disease. Experience is overrated nonsense anyway.
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Ever get hit in the head? Most people don't realize or report even mild concussions.
Possibly, but concussions are primarily associated with CTE, which looks like Alzheimers, but can be distinguished post-mortem.
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Ever get hit in the head? Most people don't realize or report even mild concussions.
Not as far as I know - he did not play any sports and he was a GP so he would definitely have known to get even mild concussions looked at especially since he always used to warn my brother and I about it when we were young.
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However, the inheritable forms of Alzheimer's disease are early onset. He was also tested since there are different forms of the disea
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Even something as simple as hsv can increase your chances of dementia. And most people have some variant of that hiding in their system
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It's such a wonderful way to disregard human suffering. After all, if the world is just and someone is suffering, surely they must deserve it.
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I've seen it affect people that never so much as looked at illicit drugs or legal drugs, people that would fight doctors that wanted to put them on long-term psychological enhancers. You come off not only as a judgement prick, but also as a sub-human hate-monger. Which seems par for the course for modern man. SMH.
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> Eat right and stay active. Then this wouldn't occur.
Where are you getting this info? While maintaining good health does help, it's not a perfect prevention. Entropy eventually wins, and Alz. is just one form of age-related entropy.
Another disease with latent viral roots (Score:2)
Hanan Polansky's theorized in his 2003 book that microcompetition with viral DNA for finite resources, including cell transcription machinery, leads to many diseases where the origin was previously unknown. Viruses that we all carry, herpes simplex, epstein barr, zoster herpes etc survive within us in a dormant or latent state. Producing a small number of viral onco proteins to sustain themselves, and prevent the immune system from recognizing and removing.
"Amyloid plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s
It's too bad (Score:2)
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prevention (Score:3)
Two questions (Score:2)
2) How am I going to remember to take it?