Virtually everyone in Canada knows someone who has been touched by Alzheimer’s disease.

Millions of Canadians have watched their loved ones slowly slip away from the ravages of dementia.

But now there’s a new drug, recently approved by Health Canada, that could give those with Alzheimer’s some precious extra time. It’s the first Alzheimer’s drug approved by Health Canada in some 20 years.

For those with mild dementia caused by early Alzheimer’s, the drug lecanemab (brand name Leqembi) won’t stop the disease itself from progressing, but it has been shown to delay its progress by about one year.

Lecanemab is a breakthrough treatment that actually modifies the disease — a first of its kind. It removes beta-amyloid, a protein that builds up in the brain as plaque and leads to cognitive decline.

Lecanemab represents a shift from symptom management to actually attacking one of the root causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

The drug itself has already been approved in more than 50 countries and regions, including the United States and........

© Edmonton Sun