The first drug that can slow Alzheimer’s?
Headlines hailed aducanumab as the first drug to slow Alzheimer’s. Why Jean believes the focus needs to move beyond a single pill.
- 6 Nov 2019
- 2 min read
- 3 sections
Short answer: This 2019 article looks at headlines about a drug said to slow Alzheimer’s. The drug targets amyloid plaques, an approach that had produced poor results in earlier trials. At CogMission, amyloid is seen as the brain’s response to underlying problems such as inflammation, toxins or poor blood sugar control, rather than the root cause. That is why the focus is on finding and correcting those drivers rather than relying on one pill.
You may have heard the recent news reports about the “first drug that can slow Alzheimer’s”.
The drug company Biogen says that it will “soon seek regulatory approval in the UK for the groundbreaking drug called aducanumab”.
The same path as before
On looking further at this research, unfortunately it looks as though the drug company has yet again gone down this same path of focus of aiming to remove amyloid plaques. This is the same drug that the company discontinued trials on earlier in March 2019 because of the very poor results. This very early stage claim is that there may be a slowing of symptoms if the drug is given at much higher doses, at earlier stages of diagnosis, but there is no mention of stabilisation or reversal.
Amyloid as a symptom, not the cause
At CogMission, working under Dr Dale Bredesen’s research findings, we are recognising that amyloid, rather than being the cause of decline, is a symptom of a system that is laying down protection in the brain due to some metabolic dysfunction, whether that be for vascular protection, protection from inflammation, from toxins or many other metabolic issues.
It is now widely recognised that Alzheimer’s is not a single disease, but actually several different diseases or symptoms, which is why it is incredibly difficult to find a simple “one pill” correction. Our focus is on correcting these metabolic irregularities with the aim of stabilisation and/or reversal as the body repairs.
Moving beyond one pill
Whenever we see a headline that has such a positive message for patients we always feel hopeful, but unfortunately we need to see the focus move away from one pill to cure such a complicated disease process. Dr Bredesen’s 100 cases published in 2018 showed “sustained subjective and objective improvement in cognition”,1 and I’m quite sure this is the goal of every single person who has been diagnosed with this life-changing condition.
Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash
References
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Apollo Health, the science behind the Bredesen Protocol. apollohealthco.com/science ↩
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This article was first published on the CogMission blog. CogMission is Jean’s sister company, specialising in brain health.
This article is for general information and isn’t a substitute for personal medical advice. Please don’t start or stop any medication without speaking to a qualified practitioner.
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