The new report, published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, involved medical experts and researchers in dementia from the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

GLP-1s have been a breakthrough for obesity and diabetes. A 2022 study examined data from trials of GLP-1s in nearly 16,000 patients with diabetes, and showed that the drugs were associated with a 53% reduction in dementia risk.

Details from two large trials of Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO GLP-1 drug semaglutide showed it provided no cognitive benefit for people with early Alzheimer's disease, researchers said at a medical meeting on Wednesday, dashing remaining hopes that the widely used medication could help such patients.

Doctor Jeffrey Cummings is world-renowned in the field of Alzheimer’s research and he leads UNLV’s Center for Transformative Neuroscience. He and six other scientists published research Wednesday that looked at the potential existing drugs have for the research and treatment of Alzheimer’s, for example, drugs like rasagiline for Parkinson’s or bexarotene for cancer. It’s called repurposing.

On Nov. 7, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted icometrix clearance for icobrain aria, the first AI software approved for detecting, measuring and grading amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), a potentially harmful side effect of new amyloid-targeting therapies. A large study, needed for FDA clearance, demonstrated that the use of icobrain aria significantly increases the accuracy of ARIA assessments by radiologists and hence allows for safer use of new amyloid-beta targeting therapies for Alzheimer’s disease patients.

Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones have a renewed sense of hope now that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the first Alzheimer’s drug in nearly two decades.

Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones have a renewed sense of hope now that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the first Alzheimer’s drug in nearly two decades.

Most ARIA cases are mild, but some have been fatal

Recently approved disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease have created a sudden demand, but these and other drugs in the pipeline are not for all patients with clinical Alzheimer's symptoms, experts said.

Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond: "There is so much more to be done"

Over the past year, the field has experienced another significant leap of growth, powered by advances in translational research and capped off by the approval of lecanemab (Leqembi; Eisai), the first traditionally approved therapy in nearly two decades.

After decades of failed trials, ineffective drugs and billions of dollars spent, a new frontier of shots offer a glimmer of hope for current and future sufferers of the cruel condition that affects 5.8million Americans.