{"id":4617,"date":"2023-07-10T21:00:21","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T21:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=4617"},"modified":"2023-07-10T21:00:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T21:00:21","slug":"new-alzheimers-drug-offers-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/?p=4617","title":{"rendered":"New Alzheimer\u2019s Drug Offers Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20768%20550'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-1024x733.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-4618\" width=\"768\" height=\"550\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-1024x733.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4618\" width=\"768\" height=\"550\" srcset=\"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-1024x733.png 1024w, https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-770x551.png 770w, https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-293x210.png 293w, https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49-390x279.png 390w, https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-49.png 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FDA has granted full approval to a new Alzheimer\u2019s drug that has shown the ability to slow the progression of the devastating disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The approval of the drug, known as Leqembi, marks the first time that a drug meant to slow the progression of the disease has been granted full regulatory approval. Other approved drugs only target its symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think we can understate the significance of this moment,\u201d said Donna Wilcock, the assistant dean of biomedicine at the University of Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About 6.7 million adults ages 65 and older in the United States have Alzheimer\u2019s disease, according to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leqembi, from Japanese drugmaker Eisai and U.S.-based drugmaker Biogen, targets a type of protein in the brain called beta-amyloid, long thought by scientists to be one of the underlying causes of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a phase 3 clinical trial of 1,795 patients with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage disease, the progression of the illness was slowed by 27% over an 18-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhile patients still do decline on the drug, the decline is slowed,\u201d Wilcock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Ronald Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said in an email that Leqembi is not a cure, nor does it stop the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a first step for hopefully more therapeutics in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Alzheimer\u2019s Association, which has vocally advocated for the drug\u2019s approval, praised the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The treatment could \u201cgive people in the early stages of Alzheimer\u2019s more time to maintain their independence and do the things they love,\u201d Joanne Pike, president, and CEO of the Alzheimer\u2019s Association, said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis gives people more months of recognizing their spouse, children, and grandchildren,\u201d Pike said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn real-world terms, this likely means more time for the patient to be living independently, enjoying their hobbies, their friends, and having a better quality of life,\u201d Wilcock said. \u201cTime will tell how much, but the clinical trial did show significant benefit on activities of daily living measures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Petersen said the drug appeared to slow a patient\u2019s decline for about five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who will be able to get Leqembi?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leqembi was approved for people with mild cognitive impairment or early-stage Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The drug is given intravenously every two weeks, meaning patients will need to go to a hospital or clinic for the infusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, a roundtable of Alzheimer\u2019s experts&nbsp;recommends&nbsp;patients get periodic brain scans to monitor for any side effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leqembi will carry a list price&nbsp;of $26,500 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In June, the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services said it planned to\u00a0provide coverage for Leqembi\u00a0and other drugs in its class, contingent upon receiving full FDA approval. However, the agency said it will mandate that physicians gather real-world performance data on these medications through a government database. That means that only doctors who are willing to collect this data will be able to prescribe Leqembi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/longlifeandhealth.org\/new-alzheimers-drug-offers-hope\/\">https:\/\/longlifeandhealth.org\/new-alzheimers-drug-offers-hope\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FDA has granted full approval to a new Alzheimer\u2019s drug that has shown the ability to slow the progression of the devastating disease. The approval of the drug, known as Leqembi, marks the first time that a drug meant to slow the progression of the disease has been granted full regulatory approval. Other approved drugs only target its symptoms. \u201cI don\u2019t think we can understate the significance of this moment,\u201d said Donna Wilcock, the assistant dean of biomedicine at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conditions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4617"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4619,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions\/4619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthnews.zone\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}