Reading between the lines if we gave people those drugs before they show any symptoms we should be able to do even better. Has this been tested? How safe are those drugs? What should the average person be doing to avoid accumulating amyloids in the first place?
There were some earlier prevention failures with solanezumab and crenezumab, but these antibodies worked differently and never showed much success at any stage.
How safe are those drugs?
There are some real safety risks from brain bleeding and swelling, seemingly because the antibodies struggle to cross the blood-brain barrier, accumulating in blood vessels and inducing the immune system to attack amyloid deposits in those locations rather than the more harmful plaques in brain tissue. A new generation of antibodies including trontinemab appears likely to be both more effective and much safer, by crossing the BBB more easily.
What should the average person be doing to avoid accumulating amyloids in the first place?
There's not much proven here, and it probably depends on your individualized risk factors. There's some evidence that avoiding/properly treating microbial infection (particularly herpes viruses and P. gingivalis) can help, since amyloid beta seems to be an antimicrobial peptide which accumulates in response to infection. There may also be some benefit from managing cholesterol levels, as lipid processing dysfunction may contribute to increased difficulty of amyloid clearance. Getting good sleep, especially slow wave sleep, can also help reduce amyloid buildup.
