New drug for Alzheimer’s disease?

On January 6, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the new drug Leqembi (also known as lecanemab) for treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease. Here’s what people in Canada might want to know about it. – read more here 

Lecanemab works by removing a sticky protein from the brain that is believed to cause Alzheimer’s disease to advance. The drug is approved to be used in people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia stage of Alzheimer’s disease.  However, patients and clinicians have to be cautiously hopeful : there is a lot to keep in mind in order to get the full picture.

The results on lecanemab might well pave the way for much needed treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. But for now, the key public health message for Alzheimer’s disease remains that laid out in the 2020 Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care: target the modifiable risk factors for dementia—such as hypertension, smoking, diabetes, and obesity—to maintain brain health across the lifespan. – excerpt from Lecane mab for Alzheimer’s disease: tempering hype and hope

For the time being, the general message for Alzheimer’s disease has been consistent for over a decade and is again laid out in the 2020 Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care: target the modifiable risk factors for dementia—such as hypertension, smoking, diabetes, and obesity—to maintain brain health across the lifespan.