In a new study from University of Southern California, researchers found that older Americans most at risk for Alzheimer’s know little about the new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
In spring 2021, for the first time in decades, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Enthusiasm for the drug, aducanumab (brand name Aduhelm), was swiftly eclipsed by concerns about efficacy, prohibitive cost and serious side effects.
As associate professor Julie Zissimopoulos says, the contrast between older Americans who were very concerned about developing Alzheimer’s disease and those that actually knew anything about the drug was surprising.
In the current study, the team examined more than 1,000 responses to an online survey of people 55 and older who are part of the USC Center for Economic and Social Research large online survey panel, Understanding America Study.
The responses were collected just a few weeks after the June 2021 approval of the new Alzheimer’s drug.
The study revealed that although more than 8 in 10 respondents were concerned about Alzheimer’s disease, only about 1 in 4 had some knowledge of the drug.
Researchers also found that a little less than half deemed aducanumab a societal benefit and about half were concerned about costs to individuals and Medicare.
Two-thirds were uncertain about where it would affect their chances of seeking cognitive impairment screening.
Less than 25% said they wanted to receive aducanumab if they had Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings suggest that health-care providers and systems need to educate the patients who will benefit from the new Alzheimer’s drug. Individuals need to figure out whether this drug would have any benefit for them.
Notably, the approval process for the new drug is highly controversial.
Aducanumab is the first FDA-approved therapy to address the underlying biology of Alzheimer’s disease by reducing beta-amyloid plaque from the brain, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.
The decrease of beta-amyloid is reasonably likely to reduce cognitive and functional decline in people living with early Alzheimer’s, according to the FDA.
The drug’s approval was controversial, even within the FDA, partly due to concerns about inadequate evidence of its effectiveness.
The Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee recommended the FDA reject aducanumab.
Several committee members resigned after the FDA approved it.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies that this blood test can predict dementia, Alzheimer’s 5 years early, and longer reproductive period may increase Alzheimer disease risk in women.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that one year of this exercise training may reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and results showing that COVID-19 may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was conducted by Julie Zissimopoulos et al., and published in JAMA Network Open.
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