June 26, 2021

I listened to a short podcast from UCI about the new medication that was approved by the FDA (using the accelerated approval pathway). The drug is called Aducanumab, or Aduhelm. The doctors explained that the medication initially didn't show much improvement, but the results were reexamined and found that there was one subset group that showed improvement. That group consisted of patients who had Mild Cognitive Impairment or Early Stage Alzheimer's Disease. In that subset group, they found that 22% of participants experienced a decline in the progression of their dementia compared to the control group. As a result, the FDA approved the drug with the expectation that more studies will be done. Also, since there are 6 million Americans living with Alzheimer's, and this number is growing as the population ages, the scientific community and the FDA is under great pressure to make solutions available to the public. So the data is not strong, but it does represent the beginning of medications that will actually help treat the disease itself, rather than just the symptoms. This medication actually reduced the amyloid plaques that build up in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. The medication is not covered by Medicare, and costs about $56,000 per year. Much of the testing required to use the medication (Pt Scan is one example) is also not covered by Medicare. Another important thing to note: 40% of participants had significant side effects - brain swelling and small bleeds in the brain. On another note - I went to a marijuana dispensary this week and bought 2 kinds of gummies for John to try. I'm going to wait to try them though, because we are dropping the dose of another medication and I don't want to distort those results by introducing another factor. The dispensary was very nice inside, and reminded me of an Apple Store with big tables in the center area. I immediately asked for help and a very nice guy listened to what I was looking for and steered me toward a couple products that should calm John down and reduce his frustrations and anxiety. Hopefully when we try them he'll feel less agitated and happier. We'll see...