Alzheimer Drugs Disappoint, Eggs May Help
Two new studies show different news about Alzheimer's, a brain illness that causes memory loss. A research group called the Cochrane Collaboration looked at 17 studies with more than 20,000 patients. They studied new drugs that remove a harmful protein from the brain. The drugs help only a little. Other scientists in California studied 40,000 adults for 15 years. They found that eating eggs twice a week made dementia 20 per cent less likely.
The drugs are called donanemab and lecanemab. They were once seen as a big step forward. But the Cochrane team says the help is too small. The drugs can cause brain swelling and bleeding. They cost about £90,000 in the United Kingdom. Some experts disagree with this view. Eggs are useful because they have choline— a substance that the body uses to make a memory chemical called acetylcholine. Eggs also have vitamin B12.
Reactions are mixed. Doctor Edo Richard says he tells patients they will probably not benefit. But Cheryl Essam, whose husband joined a drug trial, says the drug gave them more time together. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) does not pay for the drugs. About one million people in Britain have dementia today.