A breakthrough drug could slow Alzheimer’s. Here’s why many Canadians may not be able to access it
There are 700,000 Canadians living with dementia, and their numbers are rapidly rising. By 2050, it’s projected that 1.1 million Canadians will have Alzheimer’s, dementia’s most common form.
For people with mild Alzheimer’s, the treatment options are often what some clinicians call “therapeutic nihilism” — no medications are offered, because nothing can change the course of disease. A person’s cognition worsens, and they move from mild to moderate to severe disease in time. There are no approved treatments in Canada that can slow this progression, only drugs to quiet symptoms.
That may soon change.
