Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that gradually disrupts a person’s memory and thinking skills. If left untreated, the disease may take over the person’s ability to carry out their everyday tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is widely known to be irreversible and typically occurs at the later stages of life- commonly starting from the mid-60s. 

The most common characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease is dementia. Recognizing the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease can help the patients prevent any further damage to their nerves. 

Some programs and services help patients with Alzheimer’s disease maximize their independence and improve their ability to carry out at least their everyday tasks. Cognes works for the betterment of the patients diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and provides the patients with the best treatment that is suitable for them. 

The early diagnosis of the patients allows them to get treated with personalized treatment methods that are not only cost-effective but highly scalable too. They provide the patients with the learning capacity to know more about Alzheimer’s disease, encourage them to take care of themselves the best they can, and give the patients suitable plans to slow down the root cause of the disease. This will ensure the patients have a safe and healthy way to live their lives without having to compromise their personal lives.

If left untreated, Alzheimer’s disease can do much damage to a person’s brain function and eventually result in death. As of now, no known treatment will completely cure Alzheimer’s disease. However, certain drugs claim to inhibit the growing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The drugs are certainly new to the medical world, and there is still a lot of research to identify the potential risks of such medications.

Biogen’s Alzheimer’s Drug

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Biogen’s aducanumab, which is the first drug ever to be claimed to be safe for patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is sold under the brand name “Aduhelm”. The drug targets the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease and, therefore, minimizes the effects of the disease on the person’s neurosystem.

Initial tests for drug use were made to ensure its safety. The drug was tested in patients who showed early signs of Alzheimer’s disease; however, the drug has not been claimed to be safe or effective in treating patients who show moderate to severe characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease. As the progressive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease start to become noticeable in the patient, they gradually lose the ability to take care of themselves.

How Does The Drug Work?

Aduhelm, the recent innovative drug known to help slow Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages, is known to work by targeting the amyloid beta. Amyloid beta is a protein that is a plaque in the brains of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid is known to be a sticky deposit in the brain that starts forming well before the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s are indicated in a person.

Identifying the formation of amyloid in its earliest stages makes it much easier for patients to protect themselves from the potential harm Alzheimer’s may bring to them. However, it is to be kept in mind that Aduhelm is not a cure for Alzheimer\’s disease. The drug only slows down the amyloid growth, giving the patients the ability to carry out their everyday tasks and work to the best of their potential as long as they can.

Details On Aduhelm Administration

Aduhelm is taken through intravenous infusions that are provided to patients on a monthly basis. The patients are likely to receive the prescribed drug from their doctors at the specialty infusion center. The drug is not as common as yet throughout the country. However, its popularity is expected to reach all patients across the US soon.  

The Side Effects Of Aduhelm

Before putting a patient on Aduhelm, there is a moral obligation upon the Alzheimer’s specialists who are expected to prescribe the drug to their patients. They must shed light on the side effects of the medicines as they proceed to prescribe them. There is clear evidence that the drug has some serious side effects on particular patients, and therefore, they need to be frequently monitored. 

Headache is one of the most common side effects of the drug, followed by brain swelling. Besides that, research has been conducted that shows that patients with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s exhibit certain side effects of the drug. This may result in them being monitored if they are prescribed the drug.

How Expensive Is The Drug?

There is no denying that the drug comes at the expensive end of the scale, and patients would generally have to have some sort of medical insurance to be able to afford the treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The wholesale cost is said to be $56,000 per year. The majority of the people who are assisted by medical beneficiaries fall under the category of being eligible to take the drug.

The coinsurance for the infused therapy is billed through Medicare’s hospital benefit. Patients involved in diagnostic testing and monitoring of side effects would be charged more. The plan may also vary if the person is associated with commercial insurance.

Conclusion

The memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease is persistent and can result in death if not appropriately monitored. As of today, there is no known cure for the disease; however, a breakthrough drug has been nationally distributed to specialty infusion centers. The drug is known to slow down the spread of plaque in the brain, which results in the memory loss of Alzheimer’s patients.

In the event that Alzheimer’s gets out of hand, the patient may be completely incapable of carrying out their everyday activities and lose track of everything in their lives. This can eventually become fatal too, and therefore, to spare the patients from misery, the drug will delay the process of neurological damage.