Catching Alzheimer's earlier could mean an extra year of living, not just surviving

A new USC Schaeffer Center study, published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia, modeled what happens when the drug donanemab is started earlier. People treated sooner were projected to live about 0.3 years longer and spend one year less with severe dementia — worth about $104,900 per person in lifetime health and social value, rising 32% if treatment starts two years earlier. The catch: Alzheimer's is still diagnosed about 3.5 years after symptoms appear, so closing the diagnosis gap is where the value lives.