A medication recently approved for use in the European Union for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease is facing scrutiny over its limited benefits and potential for serious side effects. The debate highlights the challenges of developing effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, which impact millions worldwide.
Serious Side Effects
The Dutch Health Care Institute has advised against recommending lecanemab, stating that fewer than 15 percent of patients with early Alzheimer’s would qualify for the treatment. According to the institute, the drug’s effect is so small that patients “will not notice a sufficient difference after treatment.”
Despite treatment, patients will continue to experience significant cognitive decline and face the risk of severe side effects, including brain hemorrhages and swelling that can lead to paralysis, speech impairment, severe confusion, and, in rare cases, death.
Alzheimer Nederland argues that patients should have the autonomy to make their own decisions regarding treatment. “There is indeed a modest effect, but it concerns someone’s life,” the organization stated. “The question of whether to undergo this treatment is one for the patient to discuss with their doctor. This deprives a limited group of patients of the opportunity to delay a more severe stage of the disease. We hope the minister will make the drug available to that limited group in some way.”
First Step
The organization views lecanemab as “a first step” in the development of Alzheimer’s medications, noting that initial treatments for cancer and multiple sclerosis too had limited effects and significant risks. “More and better medicines were then developed.”
The Ministry of Health is currently reviewing the Health Care Institute’s advice and will issue a statement to Parliament “as soon as possible” outlining whether the recommendation will be followed. Historically, the ministry has almost always adopted the institute’s recommendations.
Mark Janssen, a director at the Health Care Institute, expressed “great disappointment that lecanemab is not a breakthrough. This proves to be hoped that that breakthrough will come in the coming years.”
Approximately 217,000 people in the Netherlands are living with Alzheimer’s disease, with around 80,000 in the early stages. While the exact causes of the disease remain unclear, it is known that patients experience protein buildup in the brain. Lecanemab works by attaching to certain proteins, helping the body clear them.
Thanks to a special compass for people with dementia, which includes Alzheimer’s, Truus can proceed outside independently again. It was a great relief for her, she told EditieNL last November:
