disease and try to reduce the amount of cognitive decline. and so it offers this novel therapy. there is a lot of po fence for it. but i think there is still a number of unanswered questions, including about side effects. specifically, there are some side effects that seem to be associated with this drug, brain swelling, brain bleeding. the question is, are we able to identify which patients will be eligible for it and which patients for whom the benefits outweigh the risk. another unanswered question is how it will be priced and whether medicare is going to cover it. that s something that the federal agency has yet to make a determination about. this news could provide a lot of hope to millions of americans. the alzheimer s association says that more than 6.5 million people in the u.s. live with alzheimer s. of course, this could give hope to their families. how big a deal is this moment, the potential of this new treatment?
bleeding. cohen says these types of side effects were mostly mild in the trial. we do know that this has a low ratde of causing macro hemorrhage, a low rate less than 1%. in the phase 3 clinical trial there were seven deaths in the placebo group and six in the drug group. according to investigators though, none of the drugs were said to be due to the drug or aria. the new england journal of i had medicine published an additional death of a patient who had been given blood thinners. it s difficult to say it was the drug when another drug can cause significant bleeding. reporter: they agree while this drug shows promise, it must come with caution. for example, avoiding blood thinners while taking the medication. i will prescribe this drug in
reporter: dr. sharon cohen has been studying alzheimer s drugs for 30 years and was part of the clinical trials for lecanemab. what she is talking about is amyloid originating abnormality. it can look like this or this. it s brain swelling or brain bleeding. know cohen says these types of side effects were mostly mild in the trial. we do know that lecanemab has a low rate of causing macro hemorrhage, not necessarily fatal, but a low rate, less than 1%. reporter: in the phase three clinical trial, there were seven deaths in the placebo group and six deaths in the lecanemab group. according to the investigators, though, none of the deaths were considered to be due to lecanemab or a.r.e.a. the new england journal of medicine recently published details of an additional death of ooh patient on the drug who had been given blood thinners, raising additional concerns. it s pretty hard to say lecanemab caused that when we re
care of themselves and the pathology and the plaques and the tangles have built up and by that time there is not as much we can do. reporter: but nothing comes without risks. and the ones that come with this type of drug have raised red flags. we have known for many years that with almost all of the drugs in this class there can be a side effect of aria. reporter: dr. cohen has been studying alzheimer s drugs for 30 years and was part of the clinical trial. what she is talking about is amyloid related imaging abnormality, it can look like this or this, it s brain swelling or brain bleeding. though cohen says these types of side effects were mostly mild in the trial. we do know that la ecanemab s a low rate of causing hemorrhage, less than 1%. reporter: in the phase three clinical trial there were seven deaths in the placebo group and
progression to worsening of his alzheimer s disease. we ve been targeting alzheimer s disease at the end stage when people have dementia and can no longer take care of themselves and theplaque and tangles have built up. there could be risks and this one draws red flags. we have known for many years that almost all of the drugs in this class there could be a side effect of aria. dr. sharon cohen has been studying alzheimer s drugs for 20 years and was part of the clinical trial. what she is talking about is amyloid imaging related abnormality. it can look like this or this. it s brain swelling or brain bleeding. though cohen says these types of side effects were mostly mild in the trial. we do know that lecanemab has a low rate of causing macro