Why There’s More Hope for Alzheimer’s

Summary

Chasing Life: Why There’s More Hope for Alzheimer’s Hosted by CNN | Release Date: November 8, 2024

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Chasing Life, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta delves into the evolving landscape of Alzheimer's disease, bringing newfound hope to millions affected by this debilitating condition. With nearly 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer's, the quest for effective treatments and potential reversals of the disease has been both urgent and challenging. Dr. Gupta explores groundbreaking research, personal stories of resilience, and the latest advancements that signal a brighter future in the fight against Alzheimer's.

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Personal Stories of Alzheimer’s Impact

Chi Chi Zerbe’s Journey: A Beacon of Hope

The episode opens with the poignant story of Chi Chi Zerbe, an 85-year-old diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer's. In 2018, Chi Chi began exhibiting signs of cognitive decline, reminiscent of the struggles faced by her mother and grandmother. Initially dismissive, her husband John Zerbe encouraged her to seek medical help, leading to her diagnosis.

Chi Chi Zerbe [04:19]: "Tremendous. It's really helped. It's, I think, slowed it down. It's just amazing, in my opinion."

Chi Chi's participation in Dr. Dean Ornish’s lifestyle intervention program marked a turning point. Five years later, Chi Chi demonstrates significant cognitive improvements, showcasing the potential of non-pharmaceutical approaches in managing Alzheimer’s.

Connie Grundahl’s Clinical Trial Experience

Another heartfelt narrative is that of Connie Grundahl, a 69-year-old participant in the A4 trial—an ambitious study aimed at preventing Alzheimer's in individuals with amyloid plaques but no clinical symptoms. Connie's dedication involved rigorous monthly visits and treatments, reflecting the personal sacrifices made in the pursuit of scientific breakthroughs.

Connie Grundahl [19:38]: "So this is what, about an hour? It's time-consuming. I feel like I'm contributing. Even if it's not for me, it's for research and it might help my kids, might help my grandkids or the greater good."

Despite the disappointing results of the A4 trial, Connie's unwavering commitment underscores the resilience of those fighting Alzheimer's and the importance of continued research.

Barbara Audis’s Battle with Alzheimer’s

The story of Barbara Audis, a 73-year-old battling Alzheimer’s alongside her husband, highlights the human side of medical advancements. Barbara opts for the new antibody treatment, lecanemab (Leqimbi), demonstrating the hope imbued by recent drug developments.

Barbara Audis [22:50]: "I hope to see that my memory is steadfast and everything is in place."

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Research Advances: Lifestyle Interventions and Medical Treatments

Dr. Dean Ornish’s Pioneering Work

Central to the episode is the groundbreaking work of Dr. Dean Ornish, whose research suggests that intensive lifestyle changes can not only prevent but potentially reverse early-stage Alzheimer’s. His approach, initially revolutionary for heart disease, emphasizes a plant-based diet, regular exercise, yoga, and meditation.

Dr. Dean Ornish [05:49]: "You really can eat more and weigh less if you know what to eat."

Ornish's study demonstrated that participants like Chi Chi experienced cognitive improvements within five months of adhering to the program, highlighting the brain's remarkable capacity for resilience and regeneration.

Advancements in Drug Therapies: Lecanemab and Donanemab

The episode also explores the advent of monoclonal antibody treatments such as lecanemab (Leqimbi) and donanemab. These drugs target amyloid plaques in the brain, aiming to slow cognitive decline by approximately 27%.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta [21:18]: "Could slow the progression of cognitive decline by 27%."

While not a cure, these treatments represent significant strides in managing Alzheimer’s, offering hope for extended periods of independent living and improved quality of life for patients like Barbara Audis.

Dr. Ronald Peterson [22:35]: "Lecanemab slowed the rate of progression by about 27%."

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Expert Insights: The Future of Alzheimer’s Research

Neuroscientific Breakthroughs

Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviews leading experts, including Dr. Ronald Peterson of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, who discusses the importance of early detection using advanced PET scans that identify amyloid and tau proteins in living patients. This capability marks a significant departure from past limitations where a definitive diagnosis was only possible post-mortem.

Dr. Ronald Peterson [16:17]: "The amyloid protein that gets laid down in the brain, this can happen up to 10, 15, 20 years before a person becomes symptomatic."

The Role of the Brain Endowment Bank

Dr. David Davis, Associate Director of the Brain Endowment Bank, emphasizes the importance of brain donations for ongoing research. These contributions are vital for understanding Alzheimer's progression and developing effective therapies.

Dr. David Davis [14:38]: "Everything we are is located right here. Every love, every memory, every desire, all here in this enigmatic three and a half pounds of tissue."

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Community and Support: The Power of Partnership

Chi Chi Zerbe’s success is partly attributed to the unwavering support of her husband, John, highlighting the critical role of family and community in managing Alzheimer’s.

John Zerbe [10:17]: "Cheech is doing very well. She goes out in the morning, she'll go for a walk. Almost every morning she goes for a walk. I think she's doing very well."

This partnership not only facilitates adherence to treatment protocols but also provides emotional strength, illustrating that managing Alzheimer’s is as much about community support as it is about medical intervention.

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Looking Forward: Hope on the Horizon

The episode concludes with an optimistic outlook on the future of Alzheimer's treatment, underscored by the recent FDA approval of donanemab and the ongoing research that promises further advancements. While challenges remain, the collective efforts of researchers, patients, and their families continue to drive progress toward more effective therapies and, ultimately, a cure.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta [21:36]: "Been so little progress when it comes to Alzheimer's, this incremental progress is important."

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Conclusion

"Why There’s More Hope for Alzheimer’s" encapsulates a narrative of perseverance, scientific innovation, and the profound impact of lifestyle changes and medical advancements. Through personal stories and expert insights, Dr. Gupta paints a picture of a future where Alzheimer's is not an insurmountable fate but a condition that can be managed, slowed, and potentially reversed. This episode serves as a beacon of hope, inspiring listeners to embrace proactive health measures and support ongoing research in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Chi Chi Zerbe [12:26]: "Tremendous. It's really helped. It's, I think, slowed it down. It's just amazing, in my opinion."
• Dr. Dean Ornish [05:49]: "You really can eat more and weigh less if you know what to eat."
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta [21:18]: "Could slow the progression of cognitive decline by 27%."
• Dr. Ronald Peterson [22:35]: "Lecanemab slowed the rate of progression by about 27%."
• John Zerbe [10:17]: "Cheech is doing very well. She goes out in the morning she'll go for a walk. Almost every morning she goes for a walk. I think she's doing very well."
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta [21:36]: "Been so little progress when it comes to Alzheimer's, this incremental progress is important."

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About the Production

"Chasing Life" is a production of CNN Audio, with a dedicated team including producers Aaron Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker, Jesse Remedios, and medical writer Andrea Cain. Senior Producer Dan Bloom, Showrunner Amanda Seeley, Technical Director Dan Dezulla, and Executive Producer Steve Lichti lead the production, supported by Jamis Andrest, John Dionora, Hailey Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Lainey Steinhart, Nicole Pessarou, and Lisa Namoro. Special thanks to Ben Tinker and Nadia Kanang of CNN Health and Katie Hinman.

Transcript

[Narrator]

There are nearly 7 million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. Chances are you probably know someone who's been affected by it. It's the most common neurodegenerative condition in the world. I've been reporting on this for more than two decades, and any progress in the field has seemed incremental at best, leaving most patients and their loved ones with few options. But in the process of filming a recent documentary called the Last Alzheimer's Patient, I saw some incredible signs of hope, meeting people all across the country who had been diagnosed with or at high risk of the disease. And I saw Alzheimer's slowed, prevented, and yes, even sometimes reversed. Importantly, it wasn't always about new, expensive or experimental drugs, but lifestyle changes instead. I know it's hard to believe, so I think you just need to hear it for yourself. Here's part one of my documentary, the Last Alzheimer's Patient.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

I could use a strong cup of coffee.

[Narrator]

This is Chi Chi Zerbe and her husband John, back in 2019.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Will you come see Grandma, Grandma?

[Narrator]

Chi Chi is best described as the matriarch of a huge tight knit family. Yum, yum, yum.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Oh, yum Yum.

[Narrator]

Over her 80 years on Earth, she has created a rich life filled with love and lasting memories.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Oh, my goodness.

[Narrator]

But in early 2018, her family began to notice something had changed.

[John Zerbe]

She would forget things, couldn't remember what we were supposed to be doing. And it slowly got worse until she would repeat herself about three times.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

What did I drive you according to you about?

[Family Member 1]

At first she didn't believe us that she had it, you know, no, that's no big deal. I just repeat myself once in a while. Who cares?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

John being the kindest husband in the world, he said, Chi Chi, yeah, you do, you do repeat yourself a lot. But there's something more too. He said, let's just, you know, just go see a doctor.

[Narrator]

A neurologist diagnosed Chi Chi with mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer's. And scans soon confirmed the worst. Her brain showed signs of the disease. Now, Chi Chi was no stranger to Alzheimer's. She had had loved ones she watched wither away slowly from it.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

My grandmother, she would sit forever and just twiddle her thus and stare into space and wouldn't talk too much.

[John Zerbe]

Her mother, they finally put her in a home because her father couldn't take care of her. My greatest fears were that she would end up like her mother and grandmother, where I couldn't take care of her.

[Family Member 2]

It was a hard word to hear, Alzheimer's. It hit really deep, you know, you don't want to lose your grandma.

[Family Member 1]

The worst part was seeing my mom being uncomfortable going to parties and not being herself, the person that we love and not be confident in herself like she always has been.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

When the doctor told you and you got your cognitive testing, how did they tell you?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Well, I had an office visit to get all the results of the tests. And he said, well, there is a memory problem, but I have the best place for you. And that was here in Sausalito.

[Narrator]

And that's where I first met Chi Chi and John. Five years ago.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I've made my way to Sausalito, California.

[Narrator]

I'm gonna spend time here with this world renowned doctor who believes he's figured out a way not just to prevent Alzheimer's, but but to reverse it.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

When people get diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it's a progressively isolating experience.

[Narrator]

In 1990, Dr. Dean Ornish changed the medical world with his groundbreaking work on heart disease. His randomized clinical trial was the first to show that coronary heart disease could be reversed with nothing more than stress reduction, social support, diet and exercise.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Part of the value of science is to increase awareness.

[Narrator]

While Ornish's approach has sometimes been criticized for being too strict, not practical enough, some others have pointed out a lack of research showing that plant based diets could definitively decrease disease. But Ornish turns to his decades of work as proof.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

You really can eat more and weigh less if you know what to eat.

[Narrator]

That what is good for the heart is almost certainly good for the brain.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

These same lifestyle changes could reverse high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, obesity, early stage prostate cancer can be slowed, stopped, even reversed. And now we're hoping to show that these same lifestyle changes may reverse the progression of early stage Alzheimer's.

[Narrator]

Five years ago, in the early stages of the study, do you remember what.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

You were experiencing before your diagnosis?

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

I couldn't formulate words.

[Narrator]

I spent some time with patients and their support partners for their four hour long, three day a week meetings. And I got a really detailed look at the Ornish lifestyle intervention program, the exercise, the yoga and the meditation regimen, sitting in on their support groups and eating the provided plant based meals.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

What do you tell the participants in the trial?

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Well, we tell them that we don't know if this is going to work, but we hope that it does. If you're trying to give people the message that you can reverse something, that you need to have really solid science from randomized trials before doing that, it.

[Narrator]

All matters, preserving, even restoring the memories of a life well lived.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

That no matter what happens, if I don't get better, just know that somewhere deep down outside my brain, I will always love him.

[Narrator]

After the break, Dr. Ornish is ready to release his findings. It seems like a lifetime has passed since I first met Dr. Dean Ornish in Sausalito, California. It was five years ago, but since then, a global pandemic shut down the world, drove up loneliness, drove up disconnection. But in 2024, we finally got word that Dr. Ornish was ready to release his findings to us.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Five years ago. One of the things that you were trying to figure out is could those lifestyle changes in some people actually lead to a reversal of Alzheimer's disease?

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Yes.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

What's the answer?

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

The answer is, in many people, it did.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I mean, it's extraordinary. Dean reversing something that seems so preordained. It's fixed. This is my life now. It sounds extraordinary.

[Family Member 1]

How's that feeling?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Good.

[Narrator]

It is the first randomized controlled clinical trial showing that some Alzheimer's patients could experience cognitive improvement in. In just five months, with intensive lifestyle.

[Family Member 2]

Changes alone rising up into the middle back.

[Narrator]

And importantly, those who did not make any changes in the trial worsened.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

So the more you change, the more you improve. But to get reversal, you have to.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Make really big changes, which, again, the big changes. We're talking about a vegan diet. Yeah.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

And it's not just a vegan diet. You know, Twinkies are vegan. You know, it's a healthy vegan diet. It's fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products, as close to possible as they come in nature.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

A half an hour to an hour of moderate or brisk activity or three times a week and group support. And there was yogameditation. You could do it in a secular way or you could do it however you wanted to do it.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Yeah. For an hour a day.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

For an hour a day.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

It's a big commitment.

[Narrator]

A big commitment, but also doable. Chi Chi did it, and now I wanted to see how she was doing. It has been five years since she first joined that study.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Hey, Chi Chi.

[John Zerbe]

Sanjay.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

How are you?

[Family Member 2]

I'm good.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

You a hugger?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

I'm better now. Yes. I'm a hugger.

[Narrator]

It's good to see you.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Same here.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

It's been five years.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

I can't believe it.

[Narrator]

How have you been?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

I've been great. I've been fine. I live with this man who has the patience of a saint. And that helps. That helps.

[John Zerbe]

Cheech is doing very well. She goes out in the morning she'll go for a walk. Almost every morning she goes for a walk. I think she's doing very well.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Does it surprise you?

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Yes.

[John Zerbe]

After seeing her mother and grandmother? Yes. Because I was figuring by this time she'd have been at home or something.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

How are you doing now, do you think, as compared to five years ago?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Oh, much better. Much better.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Did this help reverse some of the symptoms of Alzheimer's?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Yes. Yes.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I guess the question is why. Right. What do you attribute this to?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

The program, the meditation, the diet, the exercise. My choice of a meal before this was a breaded veal cutlet. I haven't had one in five years.

[Narrator]

And there is this other crucial element. Gotta have a partner.

[John Zerbe]

Want a piece of bread? Here.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

John did every step of the program right alongside Chi Chi.

[John Zerbe]

The food was a little bit hard to get used to. I missed my biscuits and gravy. We're just doing without for now.

[Narrator]

Chi chi is now 85 years old. John, 92.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

For Chi Chi. She was initially randomly assigned to the comparison group of our study. So she didn't make changes for the first 20 weeks and she got worse. And then she crossed over, got the program. Since then, she's shown improvement in three of the four tests and no change in one of them.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

So for the first 20 weeks she was sort of living her life.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

Correct.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

And everything worsened.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

It also shows you how dynamic these biological mechanisms are in both directions. You can get better quickly. You can get worse quickly.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Okay, everybody.

[Narrator]

Good.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I gotta say, this is a good looking family here.

[Narrator]

I had a chance to sit down with a few members of the Zerbe family.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Chi Chi, John.

[Narrator]

You guys have done well, including their daughters, Franny and Alicia. Alicia.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

I don't want to overstate the impact of this or understate it. I want to be just really fair about this. For people who may be dealing with this, how would you describe the impact that this program has had on Chi Chi?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Tremendous. It's really helped. It's, I think, slowed it down. It's just amazing, in my opinion.

[Family Member 1]

I mean, how many people five years into dementia get to go outside and go for a walk by themselves every day? Not very many.

[Family Member 2]

Take a moment to gather your awareness in this body, in this moment.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Teacher, I remember when we Spoke Back in 2019, you were very clear with me that one of your greatest fears was going through the same thing you had seen with your mom and your grandma. Do you still fear that?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

No, I think I passed that a long time ago.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

That's kind of incredible.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Yeah. And here I am.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

You are.

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

Here I am.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

So we've made our way to Miami.

[Narrator]

Now, by the year 2050, it is expected that more than 152 million people.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Around the world will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It's part of the urgency of these researchers and why they're working so hard.

[Narrator]

And so fast to try and get things done. That vital work is happening at places like the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

So every brain that we're seeing here, the inhabiter of these brains at one point had Alzheimer's disease, is that right? That's correct. The majority of these brains, yes. You know, the most amazing thing is when I was in medical school in the early 1990s, the conventional wisdom was you got a certain number of brain cells and that was it. Over your life, you could drain the cash. Things like alcohol might speed up that process, but you got what you got. By the time I finished in the year 2000, everything had changed. We realized that you could continue to grow new brain cells, which was kind of incredible. Our goal is to make sure that we get high quality donations that could be used by investigators all around the world.

[Narrator]

Dr. David Davis is the associate director of the Brain Endowment Bank.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

All in the cause of better understanding the progression of the disease and potentially, hopefully, finding therapies and cures. I started training in neurosurgery 30 years ago, and still every time I look at the human brain, I am still filled with awe. Everything we are is located right here. Every love, every memory, every desire, all here in this enigmatic three and a half pounds of tissue.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

How was your memory?

[Family Member 2]

Not too good.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

Are you able to remember my name, for example?

[Chi Chi Zerbe]

No.

[Narrator]

What you are watching is from 1966. Fact is, we've been talking about Alzheimer's disease for a long time now. The first known case of the disease was reported in 1906. But before the early 2000s, there was only one way to be sure someone actually had the disease or not.

[Dr. Dean Ornish]

The only way to definitively diagnose the disease is by an autopsy after death.

[Narrator]

We've come a long way since then. We can now peer into the brain when the patient is very much alive.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

These are PET scans that pick up the two proteins in the brain that define Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid and tau. The redness indicates that the amyloid protein is present. So that's the protein that makes up the plaque, one of the defining features.

[Narrator]

Dr. Ronald Peterson is director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

The amyloid protein that gets Laid down in the brain, this can happen up to 10, 15, 20 years before a person becomes. So many people are out there walking around with some amyloid in the brain, but they're doing fine clinically.

[Narrator]

Connie Grundahl is one of those people. Lots of amyloid in the brain, but zero symptoms.

[Family Member 2]

So I know that I do have plaque in my brain. I don't understand how that affects some people and not others. Nice to meet you as well.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

Thank you so much for.

[Narrator]

We first met Connie at Dr. Peterson's clinic five years ago in 2019. And at the time, 69 year old Connie was halfway through a highly anticipated Alzheimer's study called the A4 trial. It was designed for those with plaque in their brains, but so far living a normal life.

[Family Member 2]

So I'm one of 19 children, number 18, and three of my sisters have died. I have two in memory care, so it's personal. Hi. Hello. How are you? Oh, you look so beautiful today. You have a lot of pictures from Winnie.

[Narrator]

Today we listen in on an extraordinary visit to the memory care ward.

[Family Member 2]

Okay, here we are.

[Narrator]

Connie has come to see her sister vera, who is 12 years older.

[Family Member 2]

Let's go in. We're in order of how we were.

[Narrator]

Born again in a family of 19 children.

[Family Member 2]

And this one is getting older, and so is this one right here. Okay, there we are together. This is what you wrote a long time ago for your doctorate when you were at. You mean I pushed it in here? Yep. This is all your work? Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Narrator]

Vera was once a. A trailblazing psychology professor at the University of Minnesota. A loving mother, grandmother. About seven years ago, though, her memory started to fade and the decline was steep.

[Family Member 2]

One night, she'd left the house in the middle of the night and we didn't find her until noon the next day. And these girls today with Vera, oh, it was one of the most special days that I've had in a long time with her. Looking at my family history, my brothers are fine, my sisters are not. But some of my sisters are. Will I be a lucky one? I don't know.

[Narrator]

Those confusing, unanswered questions are what fuel Connie and what fuels the scientists who are caring for her?

[Family Member 2]

Okay. Yes.

[Narrator]

In 2019, she was midway through the four and a half year study to try and prevent what she had seen happen to her older sister.

[Family Member 2]

Yes.

[Narrator]

Even during the pandemic, Connie would drive more than an hour each way from her home in Minneapolis to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She would undergo cognitive.

[Family Member 2]

Okay, go ahead.

[Narrator]

Motor hap like this real fast. And general health testing.

[Family Member 2]

And we are going to be giving you research.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Irb, the, the selenizumab.

[Narrator]

And almost every month.

[Family Member 2]

Oh, I can feel that go in.

[Narrator]

She would receive this IV transfusion.

[Family Member 2]

So this is what, about an hour? It's time consuming. I feel like I'm contributing. Even if it's not for me, it's for research and it might help my kids, might help my grandkids or the greater good.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

When you're dealing with people who get enrolled in a clinical trial, it's important to really be realistic and say, we're hopeful that the drug that you may receive is going to help us with treating this underlying disease. But there's a possibility it could go in the other direction.

[Family Member 2]

You either agree to that risk or you don't. I don't have an alternative right now. I love you. Oh, that's good. Thank you for that. I'll walk you in.

[Narrator]

In September 2022, Vera passed away after her long battle with Alzheimer's. Then, in 2023, news came. After a decade of research, after tracking more than 1,100 study participants.

[Family Member 2]

I'm Dr. Risa Sperling. I'm the principal investigator of the A4 study.

[Narrator]

The long awaited results were finally in. We did not, unfortunately, slow the cognitive.

[Family Member 2]

Decline with this particular antibody.

[Narrator]

Disappointing findings for patients like Connie, who was now 74 years old.

[Family Member 1]

The A4 study, it turned out that the approach is right. The drug was not the right one.

[Narrator]

Lessons learned that laid the foundation for newer drugs like one you may have heard of.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Lecanemab, A potential breakthrough this morning for millions of Americans affected by Alzheimer's.

[Family Member 2]

A new antibody treatment for the disease.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Could slow the progression of cognitive decline by 27%. There's not been a significant treatment that has had this degree of improvement in these patients really in a long time, if ever.

[Narrator]

Lecanemab or leqimbi is part of a new class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. They are given every other week. A similar drug, Donanemab, is administered monthly and is expected to be approved by the FDA later in 2024. Let me show you how they work. Remember, beta amyloid, that's the sticky compound of protein fragments that can accumulate in the brain and can clump together to form amyloid plaques, disrupting cellular communication and eventually cause neuronal death. Well, these new drugs stimulate the immune system to attack some of the building blocks of these amyloid proteins and eventually break up the plaques. But it is important to note that there are potential side effects. Some of those adverse Events were side effects in a small percentage of the lecanemab group, including brain swelling and brain bleeding. It's not a home run, but there's.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Been so little progress when it comes to Alzheimer's, this incremental progress is important.

[Dr. Ronald Peterson]

Lecanemab slowed the rate of Progression by about 27%.

[Narrator]

27%. It's enough for someone like 73 year old Barbara Audis.

[Barbara Audis]

So are you ready for this, dear?

[Family Member 2]

I am ready.

[Narrator]

Alongside her husband Jim, she is here for her second Alzheimer's treatment with lecanemab.

[Family Member 2]

Not too bad. I never thought this would happen to me. Let's go.

[Narrator]

She'll be coming here every other week for the next 18 months.

[Jim Audis]

All right.

[Barbara Audis]

You are running Atlanta didn't answer me.

[Narrator]

Both retired teachers. She and Jim read to one another to pass the time.

[Family Member 2]

Kate sat by the fire pit, the flames lighting up your face. Well, I hope to see that my memory is steadfast and everything is in place.

[Narrator]

So far. There are approximately 2,000 people using the drug in the United States. And it's not cheap. List price for the medication is $26,500 per year. But Medicare does often cover a good portion of it.

[Barbara Audis]

This is the number one priority. So, you know, if we have to sell the place or the house or whatever we have to do, this is a priority. We don't expect that that's going to happen, but we do what we're going to do.

[Family Member 2]

Be not afraid.

[Narrator]

They're teachers, so no surprise. They've studied all the data, all the papers, and they know the odds. But here's the thing. They're looking for more time to spend together and a chance for more scientific breakthroughs, maybe even a cure, if in.

[Barbara Audis]

Fact you can continue pushing this back. Right? That maybe, who knows? That maybe that will be opened and you and others can be better.

[Narrator]

One. This July, the US Food and Drug Administration did approve Donanemab. It's a monoclonal antibody drug designed to slow the progression of early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. I want to be clear, this is not a cure. But clinical trials did find that it could slow the progression of Alzheimer's, which could allow people to live independent lives for longer and also safely participate in everyday activities. I'll be back next week with part two of of the last Alzheimer's patient. And as you'll hear, it gets pretty personal. But first, I'd like to take one of your questions for our segment on Call, and we'll do that right after the break. Geetha from Houston wants to know. Can daily mental exercises such as Words with Friends or crossword puzzles reduce your odds of getting dementia? Well, Geeta, I hate to break this to you because however enjoyable they may be, brain training games like word puzzles and crosswords mostly help improve your ability to be better at word puzzle games and crosswords. You just get really good at doing that activity over and over again, but they don't necessarily build up your cognitive reserves or protect you against Alzheimer's. What does seem to help is doing brand new activities, preferably ones outside your comfort zone. Also, movement is probably the most effective way to grow new brain cells. Think brisk walks, for example. Even better if you can do it with a friend. So this may sound counterintuitive, but at the end of the day, pick a brisk walk with a friend over a crossword puzzle to get the biggest bang for your brain. I hope that helps. Geeta, thanks for your question. Chasing Life is a production of CNN Audio. Our podcast is produced by Aaron Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker and Jesse Remedios. Andrea Cain is our medical writer, our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Amanda Seeley is our showrunner, Dan Dezulla is our technical director and the executive producer of CNN Audio is Steve Lichti, with support from Jamis Andrest, John Dionora, Hailey Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Lainey Steinhart, Nicole Pessarou and Lisa Namoro. Special thanks to Ben Tinker and Nadia Kanang of CNN Health and Katie Hinman.

[Jim Audis]

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