New Breakthroughs in Dementia Research

While there is no cure for dementia, there is good news: Science is advancing our understanding of the risk factors while creating new testing and diagnosis regimes and new treatments.

In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new test that can help diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease, the most common form of dementia. The blood test, the first of its kind, tests for amyloid plaques, which are associated with the disease in patients aged 55 and older who are already exhibiting symptoms. 

The test alone doesn’t diagnose the disease but will be used in conjunction with other symptoms by Alzheimer’s experts to make a diagnosis. 

Physicians can currently use positron emission tomography, or PET, scans to identify plaques, but they are expensive, time consuming and expose patients to radiation. The new blood test is called a Lumipulse G pTau217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio. 

The FDA has also approved two drugs in the last two years that slow the progression of early Alzheimer’s disease and mitigate some of the disease’s symptoms. The most recent approval, called Kinsunla (donanemab-azbt), is an infusion that targets amyloid plaques and is designed for use in people with mild cognitive impairment. 

The other drug, Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb), also targets patients with mild symptoms and reduces amyloid plaques that form in the brain. Other drugs to treat Alzheimer’s are in the pipeline. 

We’re also discovering new preventive treatments. A recent study of a class of type 2 diabetes drugs that includes Jardiance, found those taking the drug had a lower risk of developing dementia. The study was observational and the effect may have been overestimated, but it’s still positive. Poorly controlled blood sugar is linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s. 

Dementia is a devastating diagnosis. But we’re getting better at identifying the risk factors and developing treatments. That’s good news.