Carmel, CA Promising New Alzheimer’s Drug Crenezumab Takes Another Hit

An old woman with an injured face

A new study is out on the controversial drug that recently hit the market to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Roche’s crenezumab, and the results are not good.  The study showed that it did not slow or prevent cognitive decline in a long-running study of Colombian families who carried a genetic mutation that put them at a very high risk of developing the disease.  The drug did not demonstrate a significant benefit in tests measuring cognitive abilities or memory function among study participants.  ‘We’re disappointed that crenezumab did not show a significant clinical benefit,” Eric Reiman, the executive director at Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, told USA Today.  Regular readers of my blog know that both my father and my grandmother died of this terrible disease.  There are some great people at the Alzheimer’s Association in Monterey at Ryan’s Ranch that can help you if you are dealing with a family member with dementia.  They also have a 24 hour hotline at 1-800-272-3900.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/06/16/closely-watched-alzheimers-study-fails-prevent-advance-disease/7639930001/

Monterey, CA Radiation Therapy To Reprogram Deadly Heart Arrhythmias

Those with a fast and abnormal heart rate, a condition called ventricular tachycardia (VT) now have a new option.  Researchers at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in tandem with Washington University School of Medicine have used radiation to repair damaged heart tissue, although it’s still an experimental procedure so insurance may or may not cover it.  The procedure is noninvasive, and doctors have now performed in on a number of people.  For more information, contact the Tyler Heart Institute at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula or CHOMP.

https://www.templehealth.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/2020-oct-nov-medical-breakthroughs-aarp-magazine.pdf

https://www.chomp.org/services/cardiac-care/#.YBIW9uhKjcs