Statistics show that more than 6 million people in the United States are affected by Alzheimer’s, regardless of their age group. In 2023, an estimated 6.7 million Americans aged 65 and older were reported to have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Seventy-three percent of the patients are 75 years old or older.
As the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia continues to climb in the United States, data has suggested that lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, and sleep can help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.
Medical experts have been attempting for decades to come up with a treatment regimen, if not a cure, that could address the needs of Alzheimer’s patients. The latest, and most hopeful, breakthrough in this research has been achieved by the US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which developed an antibody therapy called Donanemab. The drug has been confirmed in a large clinical trial to decrease the rate at which individuals deteriorate. This has raised optimism that medicine will one day be able to halt the progression of the most prevalent form of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Donanemab has been tested to specifically target abnormal clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid that can accumulate in the brain. These are thought to be one of the key pathological features of Alzheimer's disease. The medicine removes the abnormal protein from the brain by attaching to it.
The trial also proved that the drug can work at an exponential rate and clear over 90 percent of the abnormal protein that has accumulated in the brain. While it may not completely cure Alzheimer’s, the drug has been proven to be successful in slowing cognitive decline and reducing brain damage.
Donanemab is administered via intravenous infusion every four weeks. Patients are required to undergo regular brain scans to check for potential side effects such as brain enlargement and hemorrhage. These side effects usually resolve on their own but could be fatal in rare instances.
The successful trial involving Donanemab comes on the heels of a similar drug that was developed in Japan, called lecanemab, which had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration before.
