Innovative medicine for youngest patient with early onset of Alzheimer’s disease

A 31-year-old woman diagnosed with familial early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD) received treatment with an innovative medicine at the Hainan Province branch of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital last Saturday, experts announced on Tuesday.

Experts from Ruijin Hospital, who have searched all literature and network media so far, revealed that she is the youngest AD patient in the world receiving such disease-modifying treatment.

The medicine Aducanumab was marketed in the United States in 2021 for Alzheimer’s disease treatment. It was the first AD medicine approved by US Food and Drug Administration since 2003.

The medicine was introduced by Ruijin’s Hainan branch at the end of 2022, since when several patients have received the therapy.

It is given by intravenous infusion once a month, with a 12-month treatment duration.

The Bo’ao area on the southern island province is a special region approved for pioneering trials on new drugs and technologies, which are not approved by the Chinese government.

Aducanumab is a monoclonal IgG1 antibody that binds to amyloid-β (Aβ), reducing amyloid plaques in the brain. Amyloid plaques are one of the main factors causing AD.

AD is a neurodegenerative disease, which usually affects people over 65 years old. About 10 percent of the patients can have early onset of the disease before they are 60, with many familial AD patients.

The woman’s father is also an AD patient, and started to develop symptoms at the age of 38 and died seven years later.

She began to feel a memory decline half a year ago and went to hospital for screening and checks.

“She is a patient with high awareness, which is extremely important for AD prevention and control, as proper medication, rehabilitation and intervention measures can slow down the development of the disease,” said Dr Wang Gang, the woman’s attending neurologist.

“Clinical studies and practices made a breakthrough with drugs like anti-Aβ monoclonal antibodies, which can facilitate Aβ clearance from the brain, potentially reducing the deleterious effects of Aβ and hence slowing the cognitive decline.”

Wang pointed out that his hospital has been actively involved in AD screening, prevention and treatment and promoting the knowledge on AD to raise public awareness.

“Ruijin Hospital has teamed up with the Yuyuan Community Health Center to launch education and screening for the elderly at the risk of AD,” he said.

Through cognitive screening scales, eletroencephalography and risk gene screening, doctors are able to identity people with high risk and have already suffered certain early-stage symptoms.

“We have developed a whole-process management system by community-based rehabilitation and management, transfers between the senior hospital and neighborhoods and hospice care,” Wang noted. “The treatment is able to cover the very early stage to the last stage of the disease.”

Experts say that AD screening should also be included in the regular physical checkup of middle-aged and elderly people for early detection, diagnosis and treatment.

There are about 13 million patients with AD or other types of dementia in China, with an incidence of 924.1 per 100,000 people and mortality of 22.5 per 100,000.