Drug to slow Alzheimer's may be less effective for Black patients than others.

Scientists have been hard at work pushing a promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease, the drug Leqembi. Results, however, reveal that its effectiveness is less pronounced in Black patients.

According to NBCBlk, Leqembi and donanemab work by removing a toxic protein, beta-amyloid, from the brain. But this is not the only risk factor that contributes to the battle with the disease in Black patients.

Racial disparities in diagnoses and treatment have become increasingly important in determining the fatality for people of color suffering from cognitive diseases. Could even a modern medical miracle contain implicit bias?

Nearly 50% of Black patients who volunteered for clinical trials of Leqembi were turned away due to a lack of amyloid concentration. Of the 947 people enrolled in the U.S. version of the trial, only 43 participants were Black, despite the fact that the community accounts for the majority of Alzheimer’s cases.

Dr. Lisa Barnes of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Chicago believes that the other pathologies must be taken into account beyond amyloid to determine dementia in Black people, as well as the social risk factors that relate to those pathologies.

The findings of the trial have led researchers to believe that a greater effort must be made across the industry to effectively determine how and why the percentage of Black patients suffering from cognitive diseases continues to rise. Dr. Joshua Grill, a University of California, Irvine, Alzheimer’s researcher, asks whether it is Alzheimer's disease or something else that causes cognitive problems in those communities. He also wonders if the biomarkers work differently in these communities or if there is something else that cannot be measured.

Clearly, more research is needed to ensure that the treatments for Alzheimer's are equally effective for all patients, regardless of race. By understanding the complex factors involved in cognitive diseases, medical professionals can develop more targeted treatments to ensure that everyone has an equal chance at a better quality of life.

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