Success in recent drug trials is bringing new hope to the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists and researchers in the field are encouraged by their results, predicting that dementia treatment drugs will be available in the next decade.
Read more about the reasons for their optimism and the future of drug treatments for Alzheimer’s prevention.
Hope for Dementia Treatment
Experts are predicting that a treatment for Alzheimer’s will be available in the next 10 years. Driven by success in recent drug trials, researchers are optimistic that a treatment and proven prevention method will be available in the next decade.
Professor John Hardy, a renowned dementia expert from University College London is encouraged by recent drug trials stating:
“I think we’re on target for therapies by 2025. All of us are excited about drug trials that are going on now. In the coming year we will know if we are already at the start of a new era of better treatments for slowing or stopping the development of Alzheimer’s disease. I am confident that over the next decade or so we will find more effective ways of preventing or slowing down the dementias. By 2050 such advances should be benefiting at least a million people a year in the UK.”
Positive Trends in Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment
There is reason to be optimistic in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Since the 1980s, the rate of dementia has fallen by 20%, largely because of positive lifestyle changes, like a greater awareness of the impact diet and exercise can have on brain health.
Additionally, last summer, one drug trial found that the drug “Solanezumab” could prevent mental decline in people with Alzheimer’s by 33%. The study was the first time that a drug worked on attacking the actual disease process by clearing out amyloid plaques thought to cause dementia, rather than just reducing the symptoms of the disease.
Director of Research and Development at the Alzheimer’s Society, Dr. Doug Brown, is also encouraged by the progress made in recent drug trials, saying:
“The development of treatments that can slow the rate of memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease will, without a doubt, mark a turning point in the way dementia is managed, and be life-changing for people with the condition. We are now making much needed advancements in our understanding of what goes wrong in the brain when dementia develops and what we should be doing to tackle it.”
Do you think a cure for Alzheimer’s and dementia treatment by 2025 is a reality? Why or why not? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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