ALMOST four decades ago a desperate woman sent John Hardy a letter.
“Dear Sir,” Carol Jennings, from Nottingham in England, wrote in her careful handwriting. “I was very interested to read of your research in the Alzheimer’s Disease Society News and think my family could be of use.” Her 63-year-old father had Alzheimer’s, she said, “as does his sister, Audrey. His brother, Arthur, also may have the disease”.
Hardy remembers reading it.
“She said, ‘My doctor keeps telling me it doesn’t run in the family, but here’s my family tree, and it clearly does’.” Throughout her family were people who developed Alzheimer’s and did so in their 50s, and she wanted answers.”
This is the letter that launched a thousand studies, the letter that, in a roundabout way, led to investments worth billions. And recently, 35 years after Carol sent it and more than a decade after she started losing her mind – as she always feared she would – came a vindication of sorts.
It arrived in a factsheet for doctors produced by the US Food and Drug Administration in June, giving information on the country’s newest drug. “ADUHELM,” it began, “is an amyloid beta-directed antibody indicated for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.”
With that mundane opening sentence an experimental drug became a clinical one. The US regulators had, at last, approved a drug to treat Alzheimer’s – the first in 20 years.
Esta historia es de la edición 5 August 2021 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición 5 August 2021 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William