Science & technology | Treating dementia

A drug for Alzheimer’s disease that seems to work

It is not perfect. And it has side-effects. But it may be the real deal

Alzheimer's disease. Coloured single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans of axial (horizontal) sections through a normal brain (top) and that of a patient with Alzheimer's disease (bottom). The colours show different levels of activity within the brain tissue, with red showing high activity and black very low activity. The Alzheimer's brain is less active. Alzheimer's is a degenerative brain disease and a common cause of dementia in the elderly. It causes memory loss, confusion and personality changes. Its causes are not known and there is no cure. SPECT scans use a gamma camera to detect radioactive traces, injected into the blood, that accumulate in areas of high metabolic activity.

Editor’s note: On January 6th America’s Food and Drug Administration approved lecanemab, to be marketed as Leqembi.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Enter lecanemab”

China’s covid failure

From the December 3rd 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Science & technology

A person's silhouette made up from a mix of multi coloured fragments of plastic

Should you worry about microplastics?

Little is known about the effects on humans—but limiting exposure to them seems prudent

Parasitic wasp - laying egg in hoverfly larvae.

Wasps stole genes from viruses

That probably assisted their evolutionary diversification


The World Health Organisation crest on the wall.

America’s departure from the WHO would harm everyone

Whether it is a negotiating ploy remains to be seen


Genetic engineering could help rid Australia of toxic cane toads

It is better than freezing them to death

High-tech antidotes for snake bites

Genetic engineering and AI are powering the search for antivenins

Can you breathe stress away?

It won’t hurt to try. But scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind