Susan Kweskin

A new class of injectable monoclonal antibodies directed against calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) or its receptor may offer hope to migraineurs who have not found effective prophylactic therapy.

CGRP is a key neuropeptide in the pathophysiology of migraines. Four CGRP inhibitors are currently competing for FDA approval for migraine prevention:

(co-developed by Amgen and Novartis)    


(Teva)                                               


(Eli Lilly)                                             


 (Alder Biopharmaceuticals)                   

Details about these agents can be found in this 

Erenumab binds the CGRP receptor; the others bind the CGRP ligand itself.

, supported by Novartis Pharma AG, will be presented on Wednesday, April 25, at the 

This study included 246 people who had episodic migraine; participants were given injections of either 140 mg of erenumab or a placebo once a month for 3 months. Just over a third of the participants had been treated unsuccessfully with 2 other medications, another third with 3 medications, and a quarter with 4 drugs. Participants experienced an average of 9 migraines a month and used an acute migraine drug 5 times a month.

After 3 months, the erenumab recipients were nearly 3 times more likely to have 50% or more fewer migraine days than placebo recipients; and 30% of those treated with erenumab had half the number of headaches vs 14% in the placebo group. Safety and tolerability of the active drug were similar to those of placebo.

In a statement to the press, study author Uwe Reuter, MD, of The CharitÃ© – University Medicine Berlin in Germany noted, “Our results show that people who thought their migraines were difficult to prevent may actually have hope of finding pain relief. More research is now needed to understand who is most likely to benefit from this new treatment.”

A limitation of the study is its relatively short length of 3 months. More research is needed to determine whether benefits continue.

More information about migraine is available from the 

1. Hackethal V.  CGRP inhibitors reduce migraine frequency, disability. 

Articles

CGRPs: New Help in Migraine Prophylaxis?

Newly approved treatments for several neurologic disorders-including various types of pain, generalized myasthenia gravis, and Parkinson Disease-will be topics of discussion at AAN 2018. Here’s a brief overview of those medications FDA approved within the past 6 months.

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Newly approved medications for various types of pain, generalized myasthenia gravis, and Parkinson disease will be fodder for discussion at AAN 2018. Here’s a brief overview of the therapies the FDA has approved within the past 6 months.

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In the last year, the FDA has approved a number of drugs for a variety of neurologic disorders. Here are 8 of the most recent.

The FDA has recently approved a number of drugs for a variety of neurologic disorders, including Parkinson's disease and MS. Here are 8 of the newest.

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Parlez vous francais? Sprechen-sie deutsch? How's your Spanish?

Good news coming out of the University of Ghent for bilingual people: researchers there found evidence to support findings that 

bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve

 and can postpone symptoms of dementia.

Woumans and colleagues

evaluated 69 monolingual patients and 65 bilingual patients with probable Alzheimer disease (AD) who came to 2 university hospitals in Belgium between March 2013 and May 2014. These researchers determined the age at which AD manifested and was diagnosed in patients in both language groups.

The result? AD manifested itself significantly later in bilinguals -- by 4.6 years. And diagnosis came 4.8 years later than in monolingual patients. In monolinguals, the average ages of AD manifestation and diagnosis were 71.5 and 72.5 years, respectively: in comparison, the average ages in bilinguals were 76.1 and 77.3 years.

When processing a given language, write the authors,"other known, irrelevant languages always get active to a certain degree, and influence processing of the relevant language. This constant competition requires considerable cognitive control specifically imposed on bilinguals." They continue, "Consequently, there are now strong claims that bilinguals show better executive functions and even increased brain plasticity. It is this enhanced executive functioning and plasticity that is assumed to lead to more cognitive reserve in older bilingual adults."

1.Woumans E, Santens P, Sieben A, et al. Bilingualism delays clinical manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease. 

A new study bolsters evidence that bilingualism contributes to cognitive reserve, postpones symptoms of dementia, and delays diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.

Susan Kweskin

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Bilingualism Postpones Dementia and Alzheimer