There are now two fully approved drugs on the market that can, sometimes, slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Both have been shown to slow down the mental decline of Alzheimer's by more than 25%. But that's in a group of patients—an individual may do much better, or not be helped at all. NPR Science Correspondent Jon Hamilton has been talking to people who've taken these drugs. Today he has the story of two patients to receive them.Interested in more human health stories? Contact us at [email protected]. Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What is the significance of new Alzheimer's drugs?
I'm the kind of person that I would like to help somebody else, too. And that's what I was in this for.
The drug was Lekembe, then known by its generic name, Lecanumab. It's designed to clear the brain of beta amyloid, which forms the sticky plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's. Lekembe is one of two drugs on the market that can modify the disease process rather than just treat its symptoms. Sue and Ken began making twice-monthly trips to St.
Louis, where she got Lekembe by intravenous infusion.
Needles don't bother me anyway, so that was a good plus.
Ken and Sue knew the drug had risks and was, at best, a stopgap measure.
The hope was anything we could do to keep pushing things out and so forth, that at some point, maybe they would come up with something that would either reverse the symptoms or cure it even.
At first, the drug seemed to help. Sue was able to take a trip to New York.
It was a great trip. We had five girls.
It was really six girls.
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Chapter 2: How do Alzheimer's drugs work?
We decided that we were kind of wasting our time coming down there all the time, so we suspended taking the drugs probably back in February.
Sue's experience with Lekembe is pretty typical, says Dr. Joyce Snyder, a neurologist at the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University.
Some people do progress, and like Sue, she stopped taking the drug through the study. Other people are still doing pretty well. We have a few people still left from that study who are on the medication.
Snyder says that for all its limitations, Lekembe represents a meaningful change in Alzheimer's treatment.
People like Sue and Ken are the reason this drug was approved. and the reason we can give hope to a lot of people with this disease.
Ken says that for Sue, though, hope is fading. She still knows me. She still knows our kids. She still knows some of our better friends and so forth.
Some days, though, she has trouble finding her way around her own house. On one of those days, she began asking Ken to move her to a care home. So Ken found one she liked.
After she was there a few days, every time I would come, She would say, take me home. I don't want to be here anymore. And after a month, I brought her back home.
Sue is still at home, but Ken says at some point she'll need more care than he can provide. Myra Solano-Garcia is 66 and has been living with Alzheimer's for more than a decade.
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