Washington Post, Jan.29, 2024

New Alzheimer’s drugs bring hope. But not equally for all patients.”The medications have not been widely tested in Black people with the disease, underscoring stark — and persistent — disparities”

 

New Year. Same story. 

 

Black and Brown people are not represented in clinical trials in proportion to their population or their risks for Alzheimer’s. This was highlighted in this Washington Post article by Laurie McGinley which discussed the low participation of Black and Brown people in the clinical trials for the groundbreaking drug Leqembi. 

This omission means we do not know whether drugs like Leqembi will in fact be as beneficial for African American people as for White patients. 

This issue goes to the very heart of why I made "In Our Right Mind: Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias’ Impact in Communities of Color."

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Please find some time to read The Washington Post story. It is excellent, comprehensive and nuanced. For example why was there a small number of black participation in the trial. The answer is not what one would expect. The threshold for clinical participation for Leqembi is an elevated level of amyloid. As it turns out, elevated amyloid levels are not as prevalent in African American as Whites which begs the question: why would amyloid levels vary, based on race when people had similar cognitive decline. It's not skin color, but could it be health conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes? And thus sometimes could an Alzheimer’s diagnosis actually be vascular dementia which we know is prevalent in Black and Brown communities. To find answers to these questions requires focus, research and funding. Again,this article  is important for starting a conversation. Please take the time to read and share