You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

A new drug for Alzheimer's ought to be good news, but a lot of experts don't see it that

way.

The data just aren't there right now to say that this is the drug to open up the new

era for the treatment of Alzheimer's.

It's quite possible that it does not work.

I don't want to give them something that is not going to help them and could possibly

re-do strategy here with NPR science correspondent Joan Hamilton.

Joan, who were those scientists?

And what's the drug they're talking about?

That was Dr. Jason Carlewish at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. David Rind of the Institute

for Clinical and Economic Review, and Dr. Joyce Snyder of Washington University in St. Louis.

The drug they were talking about is called aducanemat.

It's now being marketed under the brand name aduhelm, and it's the first drug ever approved

by the Food and Drug Administration to treat the disease process underlying Alzheimer's.

Aduhelm is really good at reducing those sticky plaques that tend to build up in the brains

of people with the disease.

That sounds really promising.

Why the skepticism from those experts?

Because it's still not clear whether reducing those plaques can slow down the loss of memory

and thinking caused by Alzheimer's.

Also aducanemat has some potentially dangerous side effects like swelling and bleeding in

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