(Credit: Mopic/Shutterstock)
Mopic/Shutterstock
The search for an effective has been riddled with failures, but a promising new drug could serve as a rare success story for those living with mild forms of the condition.
Biogen Idec, a Massachusetts-based company, announced Friday that a drug they're testing effectively slowed the mental decline of some patients and reduced levels of . Although the results are from an early-stage study, they offer hope of finding the so far elusive drug to battle the underlying causes of the disease.
The drug, called aducanumab, is an antibody that attacks amyloid plaques, which are widely believed to be the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease. The study included 166 patients with minimal to mild Alzheimer’s symptoms. Patients were split into four groups: low, medium and high doses of the drug, or else a placebo, for 54 weeks. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of the drug by monitoring amyloid ...
