Part the First: Anti-amyloid Antibodies and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). A Cochrane review of monoclonal antibodies targeting amyloid plaques in AD has found that these drugs have little to no effect on cognitive function of AD patients. Cochrane reviews are, to use one of the favorite tropes of the current administration, considered the “gold standard” of their kind. While they can be useful, they a...
The Cochrane review presents a compelling case against the efficacy of amyloid-targeting monoclonal antibodies in Alzheimer’s disease, but its inclusion of older, failed drugs alongside newer, modestly effective ones raises questions about methodological fairness. The review’s conclusion—that future research should abandon amyloid-focused treatments—may be premature, given that lecanemab and donanemab have shown some benefit. This tension reflects a broader paradigm shift in AD research, where t...