by Alzheimer’s patients can reduce the progression of the disease with radical new treatments for four years, the Telegraph can result.
Study results show that some patients who received the medication of Lecanemab at an early stage and had little “pathological” changes – even recorded improvements in their cognitive values.
The drug was licensed last year for use in Great Britain after the studies found that the first medication was slow to progress slowly. It was found over 18 months that it slowed down by 5.7 months.
The new findings from a study with 478 patients who remained in the medicine for four years showed an average delay of almost 11 months before their illness progressed into the next level.
Remarkable results were observed in a subgroup of patients with a low Tau mirror, the protein that accumulates as Alzheimer’s. Overall, 69 percent of people in this group did not record a decline, and 56 percent recorded an improvement in their cognitive values.
Prof. Christopher van Dyck, the director of the Alzheimer’s research unit at the Yale School of Medicine and the Student Head, said: “What I really concentrate on is the time that is saved. They get worse over time, but it will take longer to get there.”
He said that the results that were presented for the Eisai manufacturers had tended to be the best for the early treatment of Alzheimer’s as “people with the lowest pathology.”
Experts said the results presented at the Alzheimer Association International Conference in Toronto, hoped that the new class of medication could “change” the course of the disease and not only a slow decline in the short term.
They also said that there were growing evidence of the earlier prescription of such medicinal products, with studies that were planned shortly to determine whether similar medications that have fewer side effects could one day be used.
About a million people in Great Britain suffer from dementia, with Alzheimer’s most common form.
Lecanemab is part of a new class of medicinal products that aim to roast amyloid plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer’s.
As a rule, patients with mild dementia increase by one and two points a year for evaluation systems that are used to pursue the disease. In the entire test group, however, the decline was measured with only 1.75 points over four years.
It has been shown that the Lecanemab medication that works under the brand name Leqembi
The results of a separate study with Donanemab, a similar drug, also showed strong results.
The drug is usually deleted for 18 months or to amyloid in the brain. Scientists pursued the patients for a total of three years, including the time -out of the drug.
The changes in dementia values compared to untreated patients indicate that the prescribed donenamab had increased between six and 12 months before the disease progresses.
Dr. Sheona Scales, the research director at Alzheimer Research UK, said: “These recent knowledge offer renewed hope that Alzheimer’s treatments can change the course of the disease, not only in the short term.
“New long -term data show that the advantages of Donanemab can continue after the end of the treatment and that people in Lecanemab maintain cognitive profits for up to four years, with some even improved. Among those who were treated with Lecanemab early, and with a low level of Tau, more than half showed no decline after four years.
“This is the first wave of disease -modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s, and although progress is encouraging, there are still many pieces of the puzzle that we don’t have yet.”
According to the DR scales, studies helped to answer important questions about long-term advantages, but the uncertainties remained about what happens in the brain when the treatment stops and whether amyloid levels remain low in the long term.
“With increasing evidence, it is important that we continue to evaluate the potential benefits in Great Britain that treatments could offer people with Alzheimer’s,” she added.
The results of another study at the beginning of this week suggest that a third treatment called Trontinemab, which works in a similar way, was developed to reduce side effects that could be the most powerful weapon against dementia so far.
The study presented at the beginning of this week showed that the treatment can delete the devastating plaques with Alzheimer’s much faster than any current licensed medicine.
The lack of side effects means that large populations could be offered. This also means that it could be offered at a much lower price than current drugs that require intensive surveillance – including regular scans -, which means that it is more financed by the NHS.
