GREAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) - Debra Wells, the board secretary of the Alzheimer’s Association board of directors, hopes a new medicine could give caregivers and their loved ones with the disease more quality time together, before the inevitable decline.
Debra states, “Actually, my husband was one of the few people who got a noticeable relief from an old drug. It was effective for him and it allowed me to have a little bit more of him back. His personality was there and where it had been gone for probably a year or more to a great extent."
Health officials say overall Alzheimer's is ranked the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. and the fifth leading cause of death among Americans 65 and older. But scientists in Philadelphia may have discovered a way to lower those rankings.
Jim Herlihy, the Alzheimer Association senior director of marketing and communications, tells WesternSlopeNow that a new drug, Liraglutide, has been shown to hinder the disease's effects.
“Researchers have found that this medication, liraglutide, can have, or is believed to have effects on slowing cognitive decline. So that would be very significant because many of the same people who are living with diabetes and are overweight are risk factors for developing Alzheimer's,” Herlihy explains.
With this type of drug to be in the works, it can lead people to be hopeful.
Herlihy states, “Alzheimer's causes brain cells to shrink and the mass of our brains to shrink, and this medication has reduced that shrinkage by about 50% and these are the parts of the brains that deal with memory, learning, language, decision making
With the FDA possibly clearing this drug, there will be more time to spend with the people you love.