The drugs Donanemab and Lecanemab, which are called groundbreaking treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, can lead to dangerous health consequences. About this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Doctors from the USA said.
Donanemab and Lecanemab target plaques of the beta-amyloid protein in the brain that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease. The drugs slow but do not stop the progression of the disease.
They also carry health risks. For example, a study published in the journal Eneuro reported that one in four patients taking Lecanemab and more than a third of those taking Donanemab developed brain edema or brain hemorrhage. But many experienced an accelerated loss of brain volume, which may indicate an accelerated development of dementia. And when the drugs were effective, they slowed disease progression by 2.5% instead of the expected 27%.
“Small and uncertain benefits, troubling and poorly understood risks, and very high treatment costs suggest that these drugs are promoted for theoretical rather than practical benefits,” the study concluded.
Doctors now conducting additional research on the drugs say any slowing of dementia progression is a success. Before donanemab and lecanemab, patients had no way to slow their disease. In small groups of patients, side effects were minimal and easily controlled.
Earlier scientists to create Factor that doubles the risk of brain hemorrhage in the elderly.
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Source: Gazeta
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