NOW 2 DRUGS TO SLOW ALZ

Results due out in race to help patients. Meds hit key proteins in the brain

- MARTIN BAGOT

IN what is hoped could be a gamechanger in the battle to combat Alzheimer's, scientists will unveil crucial findings today.

Families affected by the disease hailed initial results of what is a second drug shown to slow dementia progression.

They are the first of a series of drugs going through trials that seem to interrupt the physical processes causing issues such as memory loss.

Today manufacturer Eli Lilly will publish the full results for its drug donanemab which it previously claimed slowed mental decline by 36 per cent by targeting a brain protein known as tau.

It comes a fortnight after it was revealed that TV presenter Fiona Phillips has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 62. She is now taking part in a clinical trial of a third drug.

Writing for the Record, Dr Richard Oakley, associate director at the Alzheimer's Society, said: "After 20 years with no new Alzheimer's disease drugs in the UK, we now have two potential new drugs in 12 months.

"This could be the beginning of the end for Alzheimer's disease.

Tau and another protein called amyloid have long been found in Alzheimer's patients' brains, and for three decades have been suspected of causing the devastating dementia symptoms.

They are thought to interact with each other, but exactly how is a mystery.

Last year a trial of another drug called lecanemab was shown to slow the progression of symptoms by 27 per cent by blocking the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain.

Experts hope that future drugs targeting tau and amyloid could further slow the relentless loss of memory and thinking ability suffered by Alzheimer's patients.

Together we'll stop condition at its root

COMMENT BY DR RICHARD OAKLEY