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New Alzheimer’s drugs are coming. Here’s what you need to know

The drugs clear sticky plaques from the brain. But they are not for everyone, experts caution

A photo of several brain scans.

A new group of drugs that remove amyloid plaques seems to keep people with early Alzheimer’s disease sharper.

TEK IMAGE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images plus

By Laura Sanders

Yet another new drug can temporarily hold off the mental decline caused by Alzheimer’s disease, scientists say.

The drug, called donanemab, slowed cognitive decline by about 35 percent over the course of a year and a half, according to data presented July 17 at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam and published the same day in JAMA.