FDA approves much-debated Alzheimer’s drug panned by experts

This is a very delicate problem, patients push very strongly for approval even if the data about its efficacy is faint, so doctors are justified in their worries it will not really help anybody and it will represent just a waste of money and maybe even increase some risk on the patients. Alzheimer is a very cruel disease, and that makes the debate very hot for both sides.

I get the strong push for any kind of treatment, even if ineffectual. Alzheimer's is about the most terrifying thing I can think of, as even with any other physically debilitating disease at least you always have your mind. Losing that, I would sooner die. If I was in the early stages of Alzheimer's I too would push for any kind of treatment I could get, even if the side effect was death that would be (personally) preferable for me.

I agree with the sentiments expressed so far in these comments. It is a terrible disease, and if there is a chance for help, with minimal chance of doing harm, then why not try?

The husband of one of my daughters was told he had a 2% chance of living with the cancer that he had. They also said that it was too far advanced, and too spread out, to do chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The doctors offered him a chance to try an experimental therapy, one that they said had maybe a thirty percent chance of helping him. Almost ten years later, he is cancer free. No one expected that outcome, but no one is complaining. So, if the doctors think the treatment can offer hope to some sufferers, why not give it a try?

I should do a better job of proofreading. I should have said that he was given a 2% chance of living another five years.

If the mRNA type vaccine works with proteins well should be usable to prevent the Prion Proteins that cause Alzheimers disease.

Another son-in-law has a business that uses mRNA, and he tried to explain it to me. He said that his business has been using mRNA for about twenty years as a delivery method for vitamins and hormones. It was popularized, in his line of work, especially by pro athletes. He says that they have been using mRNA for a while now, to help enhance their athletic performance. I hope I explained that correctly, and did not misunderstand anything.

The point being that messenger RNA is used to deliver a thing to cells. If there is something that can be delivered that has been shown to help in the fight against Alzheimer's, then it might be appropriate to use this method. It is a delivery method, not a magic bullet in and of itself.