Alzheimer's Drugs Disappoint as Eggs Show Promise
Two contrasting studies have emerged this month on Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. The Cochrane Collaboration, an independent body that scrutinises medical evidence, reviewed 17 trials involving 20,342 volunteers of so-called breakthrough drugs that strip a sticky protein called beta amyloid from the brain. Its researchers concluded the medicines slow cognitive decline by an amount well below what would meaningfully help patients. Meanwhile, scientists at Loma Linda University in California, tracking nearly 40,000 adults over fifteen years, reported that eating eggs as little as twice weekly cut the risk of developing dementia by 20 per cent, with the most frequent consumers seeing reductions of up to 27 per cent.
The drugs in question, including donanemab and lecanemab, use engineered antibodies to clear amyloid plaques and were initially heralded as a turning point because earlier compounds had failed entirely. However, the Cochrane authors argue the modest benefits are outweighed by the risk of brain swelling and bleeding, the inconvenience of fortnightly infusions, and a private cost in the United Kingdom of roughly £90,000 for an eighteen-month course. Critics within the field, such as Professor Bart De Strooper of UCL (University College London) , counter that the review unfairly lumps newer, effective antibodies together with older failures. The egg findings, meanwhile, are credited to choline, which the body converts into acetylcholine, a chemical essential for memory, together with vitamin B12, of which one egg supplies roughly a quarter of an adult's daily requirement.
Reactions have been polarised. Professor Edo Richard, a neurologist at Radboud University Medical Centre and a Cochrane author, said he tells patients they will probably not benefit and warns against giving false hope. Cheryl Essam, whose husband David participated in the lecanemab trials, disagrees, insisting the medication granted them additional time together. The National Health Service (NHS) has so far refused to fund the drugs, but its advisory body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) , is reconsidering, partly because of the burden on unpaid carers. With roughly one million Britons living with dementia and that figure projected to reach 1.4 million by 2040, researchers and policymakers are increasingly turning to preventive measures, from diet to lifestyle change.