Latest news with #AlzheimersAssociation
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists make huge dementia breakthrough as they reveal new jab which could prevent Alzheimer's
A breakthrough new drug could halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease, claim researchers. Trials suggest the drug—called trontinemab—could be the most powerful weapon against dementia yet, slowing down the progression of the memory-robbing disease. Scientists will now consider whether the jab could be given to those who have not yet been diagnosed with the condition in order to prevent symptoms developing in later life. According to research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference, Toronto, the 'game-changing' treatment can clear the toxic plaque thought to be behind Alzheimer's symptoms faster than any other licensed drug. The researchers described the findings as being 'very promising', adding that the drug caused far fewer side effects than existing medications. Professor Sir John Hardy, chairman of neurological disease at University College London, told The Telegraph: 'There is no doubt this could be game-changing. 'It sucks the plaque out of the brain really quickly, much faster then we have seen with [existing medications] lacanemab or donanemab.' In the current trial, 90 per cent of patients prescribed the drug experienced clearance of amyloid—a toxic protein that can form plaques and tangles in the brain, interfering with memory processes—within 28 weeks of starting the treatment. This, experts say, means visible markers of the disease had disappeared. In a follow-up of 18-months, researchers hope these biological changes will facilitate improvements in memory and decision making, with 1,600 patients enrolled on the trial. Currently around one million people in the UK are thought to suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer's disease the most common form. Recent analysis by the Alzheimer's Society estimates the overall annual cost of the dementia to the UK is £42billion a year, with families bearing the brunt. An ageing population means these costs, which include the lost earnings of unpaid carers, are set to soar to £90billion in the next 15 years. But, experts hope that if given early enough, the drug could halt Alzheimer's completely, saving some patients from developing symptoms entirely. 'We hope if we can give these drugs to people early, we can halt the progression of the disease even before people have symptoms,' Prof Hardy—who was the first to identify the role of amyloid in the disease—added. And, because the drug can cross the blood-brain barrier more easily than other current treatments, promising powerful effects at low doses, it could be offered at a far lower price. Together with the lack of side-effects, this could see the drug become the first Alzheimer's treatment to be funded by the NHS, experts say. Prof Hardy continued: 'The results show it is much fast and safer than previous drugs, which means less monitoring. 'That brings down the cost significantly, it means fewer MRI scans, to that would surely mean it could get NICE [National Institute of Health and Care Excellence] approval.' Last year, health watchdogs in the UK gave the green light for two so-called 'wonder' drugs, lacanemab and donanemab which experts claim could slow down the memory-robbing illness in its early stages. Both the drugs use antibodies to clear toxic plaques in the brain—but some experts have warned that donanemab could cause life-threatening brain bleeds in a third of patients. This new drug appears to be a lot safer, scientists say, with less than five per cent of patients suffering complications in the second phase of trials. Prof Jonathan Schott, chief medical officer at Alzheimer's Research UK said: 'The evidence on trontinemab is very promising, showing that the drug can effectively and rapidly clear amyloid from the brain, seemingly with very few side effects. 'We now need to see whether these early stage results carry through to later stage clinical trials, which are planned to start later this year, including in the UK. 'These trials will show whether the drug is not only safe, but impacts on memory, thinking and quality of life.' Levi Garraway, the chief medical officer of the manufacturing company, Roche, added: 'With plans for phase three trials in both early symptomatic and preclinical Alzheimer's disease, we are advancing science with the goal of delaying – and ultimately preventing – progression of this devastating condition.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Federal food assistance program may slow cognitive decline, study suggests
Older adults who participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, had a slower rate of cognitive decline than people who were eligible for the anti-hunger program but didn't receive benefits, according to a study presented Wednesday. Although many adults begin to mentally slow down in midlife, researchers found that people over 50 who participated in SNAP, which helps people with low incomes afford groceries, had a 10% slower rate of decline in their memory and thinking skills compared with their peers. That's equal to gaining two to three additional years of cognitive health over 10 years, said Linlin Da, lead author of the study, who presented her findings Wednesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto. By providing a secure source of food, SNAP 'may have some underappreciated benefits for brain health,' said Da, who led the study while she was a doctoral student at the University of Georgia College of Public Health. The National Institutes of Health-funded study comes just weeks after President Donald Trump signed legislation that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cut funding for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, by $186 billion through 2034. Food banks across the United States are already struggling to meet growing demand amid funding cuts from the Agriculture Department. Food insecurity 'can lead to poor nutrition and chronic disease, and all of that can negatively impact the brain,' Da said. 'So by improving access to nutrient-rich foods, SNAP may support brain health, reduce the stress and promote better health overall.' The new study, which hasn't yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, leaves many questions unanswered. Researchers didn't measure which foods study participants consumed, so they don't know if people receiving SNAP benefits had healthier diets. But doctors know that high-sodium diets can raise blood pressure, one of the most important risk factors for dementia, said Dr. Mitchell Elkind, chief science officer for brain health and stroke at the American Heart Association. The study also doesn't explain how food security might benefit the brain, said Elkind, who wasn't involved with the research. It's possible that programs such as SNAP relieve the anxiety that people feel when they can't afford their groceries or when they have to choose between paying for food or medication, giving them more mental bandwidth to focus on other issues. Chronic stress has been linked to a higher risk for dementia. The design of the new study, which followed more than 2,300 older people for 10 years, can't definitively prove that participating in SNAP protects brain health. It's possible that people who participated in SNAP were cognitively healthier before the study began, Da said. Enrolling in SNAP can be time-consuming and complicated, making it more difficult for people with cognitive problems to complete their applications. Yet a growing field of research links nutrition, food security and dementia risk. 'Observational studies from around the world have shown us that food insecurity and poor cognitive health go together,' said Kriti Jain, a health administrator at the National Institute on Aging, part of the NIH, who wasn't involved in the study. 'More recent studies have shown us that food insecurity comes before cognitive health gets worse.' Brain health is shaped by far more than genetics, Da said. Cognitive aging 'can also be shaped by policies, by the environment and by access to different resources,' she said. 'That means we can do something to change it and improve it.' Anti-hunger groups contend that cutting SNAP benefits will leave people hungry and less healthy. Research shows that poverty and food insecurity — a condition in which people lack a consistent source of nutritious food —are common risk factors for malnutrition among older adults. 'SNAP is both a lifeline for older adults and a critical public health tool,' said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, an advocacy group. 'Participating in SNAP can mean extra years of cognitive health, helping older adults remain independent,' instead of moving into nursing homes. The Republican-led House Agriculture Committee has said the funding reduction 'restores SNAP to its original intent—promoting work, not welfare—while saving taxpayer dollars and investing in American agriculture.' Food as medicine Karen Forbes, 61, first participated in SNAP decades ago when she was a single mother of a young child. She reapplied for the program during the pandemic when her pet sitting customers stopped needing her. Forbes, who lives outside Portland, Oregon, said SNAP has been especially important since she developed long Covid in 2022, which has left her with heavy fatigue, prevents her from working and has caused 'brain fog' that resembles age-related cognitive decline. Forbes said she and her father, who is 82, 'are going through a sort of Alzheimer's thing together.' Although Forbes said she used to talk 'a million miles a minute,' she now often struggles to find the right word. If she tries to speak too quickly, 'everything comes out jumbled and stupid.' After an 18-month wait, Forbes said she recently began receiving disability benefits from Social Security. Because of SNAP, Forbes said, she doesn't have to choose between buying groceries and paying her rent or electric bills. Her favorite part of SNAP is being able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables, she said. Oregon's SNAP program provides 'double benefits' for shopping at farmers markets, so people can buy twice as much fresh produce for the same amount of money. Forbes said she tries to follow a healthy diet in the hope of overcoming her illness. 'When you're chronically ill, every little tiny thing you can do to improve your health makes all the difference in the world,' she said. Food insecurity linked to dementia Jain described food insecurity as 'a severe and growing public health issue in America.' In families with member over age 60, the prevalence of food insecurity has almost doubled in the past two decades. Twenty-three percent of such families faced chronic or recurring food insecurity from 2015 to 2019, according to a survey from the NIH published last year in JAMA Health Forum. Another study published last year found that food insecurity doubled the risk of probable cognitive decline. And a paper published in 2024 in the Journal of Nutrition found that adults with food insecurity and lower-quality diets had significantly steeper declines in cognitive scores during the study, conducted from 2012 to 2020. In that study, however, participating in SNAP wasn't related to the rate of mental decline, suggesting that SNAP alone 'may be insufficient to prevent negative cognitive effects of poor diet and limited access to nutritious foods.' Unprecedented cutbacks The Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization that focuses on social and economic policy, estimates that funding cuts could lead 22.3 million families to lose some or all of their food benefits. The 20% decrease in funding is 'the largest cut to SNAP in history,' according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank. The measure will also shift much of the program's cost from the federal government to the states beginning in 2028, as well as expand work requirements for participants. Seven in 10 of the 42 million people who participate in SNAP are older adults, people with disabilities and families with children. The new study suggests 'we need more research on the role of healthy diet and nutrition in brain health,' Elkind said. 'In particular, it suggests that there should be more research in the area of food as medicine, meaning the provision of healthy food to people to see what the impact is on cognition, dementia risks and brain health.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
Reuters
4 hours ago
- Health
- Reuters
Patients still benefit from Eisai and Biogen Alzheimer's drug after four years, study finds
July 30 (Reuters) - Eisai (4523.T), opens new tab and Biogen's (BIIB.O), opens new tab Alzheimer's drug Leqembi continued to slow progress of the disease with no new safety issues four years into treatment, according to new data presented at a medical meeting on Wednesday. An injectable version of the drug, currently given by intravenous infusion, is under U.S. regulatory review. The best results were seen in people who started treatment while in the earliest stages of the brain-wasting disease. In a pivotal trial of patients with early-stage Alzheimer's, Leqembi was shown to slow cognitive decline by 27% compared to a placebo after 18 months - data that supported the drug's U.S. approval in 2023. The companies continued to follow about 95% of patients enrolled in that trial. The latest results show that after four years, Leqembi slowed cognitive decline by 34% compared to what would be expected in similar patients who did not receive treatment. Leqembi targets protofibrils - toxic building blocks that eventually form clumps in the brain known as amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. There were no new safety findings over the four-year period. Brain swelling and bleeding associated with drugs that work by removing amyloid plaque from the brain largely occurred within the first six months of treatment, according to data presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto. More than 50% of patients who started treatment in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's continued to show improvement in clinical scores after four years on Leqembi. Eisai is conducting a separate study of Leqembi in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's patients that is due to conclude in late 2027. Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab is also studying its Alzheimer's drug Kisunla in people who have detectable disease pathology, but show no noticeable cognitive decline. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where recent job cuts have raised questions about review times, is slated to decide by August 31 whether to approve an injectable version of Leqembi that could be given to patients at home or at medical facilities. Lynn Kramer, Eisai's chief clinical officer, said interactions with the FDA "have been right on schedule. They have been communicating with us all the time in an expected manner." He said the new formulation "will be very helpful to starting new patients" on the drug, which is continuing to see "escalating usage." Eisai will report its latest quarterly results next week, while Biogen will report results on Thursday.
The Independent
a day ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘Game-changing' new Alzheimer's drug could slow progression of disease
An Alzheimer's drug that clears away plaque build-up in the brain could slow progression of the disease and delay the onset of symptoms, early trials have shown. There is currently no cure for the disease, which can severely affect memory and impact people's ability to carry out daily tasks, and the medicines available can only reduce symptoms. But a new drug called Trontinemab is showing promising results, the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto was told. The drug has been tested on a small number of patients, but 49 out of 54 with early-stage Alzheimer's showed signs of improvement within 28 weeks during a trial, according to Roche, the pharmaceutical company behind the drug. Researchers said 91 per cent of the participants showed a reduction in clusters of protein on their brains, known as amyloid plaques – a key marker of Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is thought to be caused by an abnormal build-up of this protein around brain cells, while another protein called tau forms tangles within brain cells. These can interrupt the chemical messengers responsible for sending signals between brain cells, according to the NHS. The new drug was found to reduce amyloid proteins to a level so low that scan results on patients taking it for seven months were considered to be 'amyloid negative'. It is thought that the clearance of plaques slows down the progression of the disease and delays the onset of symptoms. 'Alzheimer's disease represents one of the greatest challenges in healthcare today, and tackling it requires early detection and effective therapeutics,' Dr Levi Garraway, chief medical officer of Roche, said. He added: 'Trontinemab is designed to target a key driver of Alzheimer's disease biology more effectively in the brain. Combining new treatment avenues with advanced diagnostics may enable earlier and potentially more effective intervention.' Professor Sir John Hardy, the chairman of molecular biology of neurological disease at University College London's Institute of Neurology, who was not involved in the trial, told The Telegraph the drug was a 'massive improvement' and works faster than other Alzheimer's drugs on the market. 'There is no doubt this could be game-changing. We hope that if we can use these drugs to people early, we can halt the progression of disease, even before people have symptoms. Now we need to see the size of the clinical effect,' he said. However, the drug does have some side effects, with five participants of 149 (3 per cent) suffering from lesions or swelling in their brains after taking it. But all the participants recovered, and it was considered to be safer than other Alzheimer's drugs that have resulted in 17 per cent of participants experiencing similar side effects. The final part of the trial, which will test the drug on a large number of patients, is yet to be carried out. But if it is successful, health bodies in the UK will need to decide whether it is cost-effective enough to use on the NHS. An estimated 982,000 people are living with some form of dementia, including Alzheimer's, in the UK, with the disease most common in people over the age of 65. But more than a third of people with the condition do not have a diagnosis. The number of those with the disease is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2040, according to the Alzheimer's Society.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
New drug could halt Alzheimer's
A new drug could halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Trials suggest the treatment, called trontinemab, could be the most powerful weapon yet against dementia. Research will now examine whether the drug should be given to those without any symptoms in order to prevent the disease. Results presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Toronto found the 'game-changing' treatment can clear the devastating plaques associated with Alzheimer's far more rapidly than any current licensed drug. Nine in 10 patients prescribed trontinemab experienced amyloid clearance within 28 weeks, meaning visible markers of disease had vanished. Experts hope these changes will be matched by improvements in memory and functioning, with an 18-month trial of 1,600 patients now under way. Separate research will examine whether the drug could be given to people without any signs of dementia, in the same way that statins are used to ward off heart disease. On Monday, experts said the findings were 'very promising', suggesting that the drug was much more powerful than existing medications, with far fewer side effects. Around one million people in the UK suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer's disease the most common form. Powerful precise effects at low doses Trontinemab is one of a class of new medicines aimed at clearing amyloid plaques. The new findings from phase two trials suggest that, in less than seven months, it has outperformed the ability of existing drugs to clear plaques in 18 months. Experts hope that if given early enough, the drug could save some patients from developing symptoms at all. It has been engineered to more easily cross the blood-brain barrier, meaning it can ensure powerful precise effects at low doses. The lack of side effects means it could be offered to large populations. This also means it could be offered at a far lower price than current medications, which require intense monitoring, including regular scans. Experts believe it could become the first Alzheimer's drug to be funded by the NHS. Last year, medicines regulators in the UK gave the green light to the first two treatments found to slow progression of Alzheimer's disease. Both lecanemab and donanemab use monoclonal antibodies to clear amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease. In trials they have been found to slow decline by 27 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, over 18 months. However, the risk of brain swelling and brain bleeds means they need intense monitoring. The new drug appears to have a far better safety profile. The phase two trial of 149 patients found less than five per cent of cases suffering amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, and all cases quickly resolved. It also requires less frequent infusions, with mass trials to examine the impact of giving the drug to patients once a month for six months, then every three months. Scientists have been intrigued by the promise of trontinemab because of the way it has been designed to be transported across the blood brain-barrier, which normally prevents chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain. 'Game-changing' Prof Sir John Hardy,the chairman of molecular biology of neurological disease at University College London's Institute of Neurology said the advance could be 'game-changing'. He told The Telegraph: 'This is absolutely great news. It sucks the plaque out of the brain really quickly, much faster than we have seen with lecanemab or donanemab.' The scientist, who was the first to identify the role of amyloid in the disease, said the drug's safety profile was a 'massive improvement' on the current drugs on the market, raising hopes it could be used both to prevent disease and stop it in its tracks. He said: 'There is no doubt this could be game-changing. We hope that if we can use these drugs to people early, we can halt the progression of disease, even before people have symptoms. Now we need to see the size of the clinical effect.' Neither of the current drugs have been funded by the NHS as a result of their high costs, much of which stems from the need for intense monitoring, including regular scans. Prof Hardy said: 'These results show it is much faster and safer than previous drugs, which means less monitoring. That brings down the cost significantly, it means fewer MRI scans, so that would surely mean it would get Nice [National Institute of Health and Care Excellence] approval.' 'Very promising evidence' Prof Jonathan Schott, the chief medical officer at Alzheimer's Research UK said: 'We urgently need a range of treatments for Alzheimer's that are effective and safe for the people affected by this devastating disease. 'Evidence presented at the Alzheimer's Association conference in Toronto on trontinemab is very promising, showing that the drug can effectively and rapidly clear amyloid from the brain, seemingly with very few side effects. 'We now need to see whether these early stage results carry through to later stage clinical trials, which are planned to start later this year, including in the UK. These trials will show whether the drug is not only safe, but impacts on memory, thinking and quality of life.' He said it was 'exciting' that the drug would now be tested in some people without symptoms under the phase three trials. Levi Garraway, Roche's chief medical officer said: 'Combining new treatment avenues with advanced diagnostics may enable earlier and potentially more effective intervention. 'With plans for phase three trials in both early symptomatic and preclinical Alzheimer's disease, we are advancing science with the goal of delaying – and ultimately preventing – progression of this devastating condition.'
