(Shirli Sitbon/France 24) — Experts hailed full data Wednesday showing a new drug can slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, but warned improvements were comparatively small and the treatment can have serious side effects.
Preliminary data from a trial of lecanemab was released in September and found it slowed cognitive decline by 27 percent across an 18-month period.
The complete trial data, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, fleshes out those findings but also raises concern about the incidence of “adverse effects” including brain bleeds and swelling.
The results showed 17.3 percent of patients administered the drug experienced brain bleeds, compared with nine percent of those receiving a placebo.
And 12.6 percent of those taking the drug experienced brain swelling, compared with just 1.7 percent of those in the placebo group. (…)