Top docs confirm that new heart failure drug can up Alzheimer’s risk
There hasn’t been a trade this bad since the Red Sox got rid of Babe Ruth!
If you or someone you love suffers from heart failure, you’ve probably already gotten the sales pitch for Novartis’ new pill Entresto.
The gushing media reports will tell you how it’s a “once in a decade” drug that can slow your disease to a crawl — and maybe even add years to your life.
In fact, they’ll tell you everything except what you really might be trading the moment you fill that first prescription.
Because a top medical researcher is warning that a daily Entresto habit could steal your eyesight — and might even destroy your body’s last natural defense against Alzheimer’s disease.
But lately he’s got a new title — Big Pharma’s Public Enemy Number One.
You see, when Dr. Feldman and researchers from the University of Florida dug into the research behind Entresto, they found the same problem I started warning you about this summer.
It can significantly increase your risk of Alzheimer’s disease — and maybe even macular degeneration to boot.
And that shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone. It’s really just common sense.
Entresto works by stopping an enzyme called neprilysin from doing its job. But neprilysin plays a critical role in keeping clusters of amyloid beta plaques from forming in your brain.
And clearing those plaques is crucial in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Not only that, but blocking neprilysin can also up your risk of developing sight-stealing macular degeneration.
Dr. Feldman calls that “basic science.”
But, unfortunately, it doesn’t look to me like basic science was on the menu when Novartis conducted the clinical trials on Entresto — or when the FDA approved it.
According to Dr. Feldman, the studies on Entresto were too short to see how Entresto might trigger long-term, chronic conditions like Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. Researchers didn’t even bother checking for any early signs of memory or vision loss.
Heck of a coincidence, huh?
On top of that, the research was done mostly on monkeys and healthy volunteers who had well-functioning blood-brain barriers.
But in heart failure patients, that barrier is often compromised, said Dr. Feldman. That can give the drug a free pass to do its damage to your brain and eyes.
And it’s not exactly like the FDA didn’t know this could happen — they just kicked the can down the road, like they always do.
The agency gave Novartis the OK to start selling Entresto this summer, and is just asking that a study on Alzheimer’s and dementia be wrapped up by 2022.
That’s seven years from now! And if you’ve seen firsthand how quickly Alzheimer’s and dementia can progress, you know that seven years can be the difference between life and death.
Dr. Feldman says that his “hope is that physicians will be prudent with the use of this new drug.”
Well, good luck with that.
Entresto appears to be the most applauded med to come along since penicillin. And cardiologists are writing prescriptions for it so fast some of them must be getting carpal tunnel syndrome!
I’ve told you many times how we often don’t understand the real-world risks of drugs until they’ve been on the market for years. But in the case of Entresto, we’re getting plenty of early warning.
So make sure you talk with your doc about safer options — including the natural supplement coenzyme Q10. A 10-year study in the European Journal of Heart Failure found that CoQ10 improves survival and reduces hospitalizations for heart failure patients.
And you don’t have to worry about what you may be trading away in the bargain.
Sources:
“Recently approved heart drug poses potential risk to brain and eye, Temple researcher warns” Lewis Katz School of Medicine, December 9, 2015, temple.edu
