IS THERE FINALLY A DRUG TO HALT DEMENTIA?

Leslie Smith, 67, an engineer from Poole, Dorset, lives with his wife anne, 65, a consultant nurse. they have two sons mark, 41, and tom, 36, and three grandchildren. leslie says: I’VE WORKED as an engineer all over the world, but in 2017 I noticed I was struggling with calculations and planning. When you are working with aeroplanes everything has to be spot on, so I couldn’t ignore it.

The GP referred me to a memory clinic, as he said I had signs of memory impairment that can indicate early Alzheimer’s disease.

Both Anne’s parents had suffered from dementia — it wasn’t what we had hoped for in our retirement.

A professor Anne knew at work suggested that we look into research trials on the Alzheimer’s Society website. We heard back from a company running a two-year trial of a new drug called aducanumab for early Alzheimer’s. The trial was blinded, meaning that I didn’t know if I was getting the placebo or the drug, but I felt it helped me.

In March, the trial was halted as results weren’t positive. Since then, I have gone downhill a little.

Luckily, a reanalysis of the results has since shown that patients on the higher dose were benefiting, so the manufacturer is applying for a licence. I’m hoping to go back on the drug if it’s successful. I’m convinced it has helped me.

EXPERT COMMENT: Dr Carol Routledge, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK said: ‘The positive news is that, given the long wait for a disease-modifying drug for Alzheimer’s, aducanumab shows a clear effect on key hallmarks of the disease.

‘We’re in uncharted territory for an Alzheimer’s drug, and there will be huge anticipation around how the regulators decide to proceed.’