New Treatment Aimed at Preventing Alzheimer’s Dementia

The end-stage of Alzheimer’s disease is Alzheimer’s dementia, a disease that kills one in every three older adults. The disease progressively impairs cognition and functioning, and ultimately inde- pendence. With the aging of society, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s demen- tia is increasing. The purpose of the cur- rent article is to describe a shift in drug research goals from slowing the pro- gression of Alzheimer’s dementia to- ward prevention of dementia through early identi cation of mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s dis- ease and targeted disease-modifying treatments. The rst approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease is aducanumab, an amyloid beta-directed monoclonal antibody that targets brain beta amy- loid plaques for removal.