Recent Breakthroughs In Alzheimer’s Research

Lori Weiss, a high school math and engineering teacher, was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease at the age of 62. Soon after, she began to lose her sense of direction, which led to fears that she might be forced into a full-time care facility.?

A friend saw a TV advertisement for a clinical trial for a drug that would attempt to slow the progression of the disease using man-made antibodies to attack and remove plaques in the brain.?

Although the drug, called donanemab, is not approved by the FDA, it uses a similar approach to another Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, which received accelerated FDA approval in January.

Weiss, who has been receiving monthly infusions of donanemab for about a year, says that since she began taking the drug, she has regained her sense of direction and has not noticed significant cognitive decline.?

Participating in the clinical trial "has had a huge impact," Weiss says. "It's given me the drive to do things while I can; it's given me the desire to talk to more people about getting treatment, getting diagnosed early, and getting in drug trials."?

The field of Alzheimer's research has had several breakthroughs in recent years, and although many researchers emphasize that they are still a long way from a cure, the hope is not a false one.

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