When your memory fails as you get older and important dates or names are forgotten more and more often, there is often great concern. Because these can be the first signs of early Alzheimer’s dementia.
The disease causes deposits, so-called plaques, to form in the brain and nerve cells gradually perish. The diagnosis is a shocking turning point for those affected and their relatives, because Alzheimer’s dementia cannot yet be stopped or cured. The medications currently available can only treat the symptoms – they stimulate brain performance or alleviate side effects such as depression.
New drug raises hopes
But a lot has happened in recent years when it comes to diagnostics and therapy. New medications address the root cause: They contain antibodies that work against the characteristic protein deposits in the brain. The drug Leqembi with the active ingredient lecanemab in particular is raising hopes. It has already been approved in the USA and will soon come onto the market in Germany. Is this the breakthrough for Alzheimer’s therapy?
NDR Info presenter Ulrike Heckmann welcomes guests:
Dr. Esther Mirjam Höltje
Specialist in neurology, head of the Memory Clinic, Asklepios Clinic North
PD Dr. Axel Wollmer
Specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, chief physician of Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Asklepios Clinic Northmember of the board of directors Alzheimer Society Hamburg eV
Further information
