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Alzheimer’s is one of the most common diseases in old age, according to data from the World Health Organization, in 2019 approximately 50 million people suffered from this condition and it is estimated that by 2050 the figure could reach 152 million. For that reason, hundreds of investigations are being carried out to give it an effective cure or treatment.
This neurologically degenerative disorder It affects more than 5 million people in the United States alone between the ages of 60 and 70. It is the common cause of dementia, those who suffer from this disease lose cognitive ability such as thinking, behavior, affecting their normal life development and relationships with others.
Recently, The US Food and Drug Administration has granted the drug lecanemab accelerated approval. As a treatment against Alzheimer’s, this would be one of the first experimental drugs with which cognitive decline in patients with this disease could be slowed down.
According to the FDA, the drug marketed under the name Leqembi proves to be a breakthrough for science and its fight against Alzheimer’s. Although he warns that it could have adverse effects in some patients such as: inflammation or cerebral bleeding, that can endanger the life of the person who consumes it.
Drug may slow Alzheimer’s progression
In an 18-month study by the biopharmaceutical companies Biogen and Eisai responsible for the drug lecanemab, demonstrated that the 1,800 patients in the phase III clinical trial managed to reduce the loss of mental and cognitive capacity by 27%, compared to those who only took placebo.
In a brain without Alzheimer’s, neurons communicate through electrical charges, this causes chemical substances to cross in the spaces between one another, astrocyte cells and microglia are responsible for eliminating waste and toxicities to keep neurons healthy . But in a person with this disease lThe beta-amyloid and tau proteins become toxic in the brain and prevent the cells from functioning properly.
The function of lecanemab is to be an anti-amyloid antibody, reducing the load of the beta-amyloid protein. Medicine still does not conclude why this protein becomes toxic in the brain, however the results regarding the drug as treatment are quite encouraging, Although the drug is under investigation, it is presumed that it can be effective only in the initial phases of the disease.
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