Americans Say They Are Optimistic About New Alzheimer’s Treatments

They Are Right to Be

America is caring for more seniors than ever, with the country’s over-65 age group growing five times faster than the national population as a whole. As this population grows, so does the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s exceeded 7.2 million this year, according to The Alzheimer’s Association, up from the 6.9 million reported in last year’s Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report. That increase reflects not just numbers, but millions more families now facing the profound challenges of this disease..

With no definitive cause, life-altering symptoms, and only limited treatments that slow but cannot stop its advance, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis can upend lives in an instant. For patients, it threatens memory, independence, and identity; for families, it brings profound emotional, physical, and financial strain. Without faster progress against the disease, researchers warn the number of people facing this reality could nearly double by 2050, escalating an already urgent crisis into an even greater one.

Not everyone shares this grim outlook. In a survey of 1,700 American adults aged 45 and older, more than 80% expressed confidence that new treatments capable of stopping the progression of Alzheimer’s will emerge within the next decade, radically transforming the picture we see today.

They are right to be optimistic. Innovative non-drug treatments, ranging from radio frequency and light-based therapies to behavioral interventions and other novel approaches, are already emerging. In the coming decade, many of these approaches could begin making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and their caregivers.

Today’s Treatment Landscape

Regulators have approved several drugs for Alzheimer’s disease, most of which are cholinesterase inhibitors or NMDA receptor antagonists. These treatments can help manage symptoms, but they often come with side effects and interact with other medications, creating added risk for older patients.

In recent years, newer disease-modifying therapies–designed to alter the course of the disease itself—have emerged. These include intravenous infusion therapies approved to treat early onset of the disease, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia with elevated levels of beta-amyloid in the brain. 

While these drugs mark important progress, their impact remains limited. At best, they modestly slow the rate of cognitive decline. They do not reverse or stop Alzheimer’s, and they carry significant risks, including amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), which can lead to complications such as brain swelling (ARIA-E) and microhemorrhages (ARIA-H).

Yet for patients and families, there are now more reasons than ever to have hope. Today’s biomedical research is moving well beyond the pharmaceutical approach with new diagnostic tools, cognitive interventions, and device-based therapies showing meaningful progress where drugs have fallen short.

On the Frontier: The Alzheimer’s Moonshot

A new era of innovation is unfolding, as researchers embrace bold new approaches to a disease that has long been as mysterious as it has been devastating.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Alzheimer’s Moonshot Community, an initiative launched last year by StartUp Health in partnership with Gates Ventures and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s (ADDF) Diagnostic Accelerator. This group of emerging companies is reimagining the Alzheimer’s care continuum by empowering entrepreneurs and researchers to advance new solutions in detection, diagnosis, treatment, and patient support.

Pharmaceutical approaches might capture the headlines, but some of the most transformative progress is happening beyond the spotlight. Moonshot member companies are pioneering non-drug treatments that harness the body’s natural systems, apply electrical and electromagnetic stimulation, or inspire behavioral changes to slow, halt, or potentially reverse cognitive decline.

One startup is developing a wearable ultrasound helmet designed to help restore brain function, while another uses an app, classified as a medical device, to foster cognitive resilience through structured social engagement. Some member companies are on the leading edge of early detection of Alzheimer’s, developing blood‑based biomarker tests,proteomic platforms, digital cognitive assessments, and non‑invasive imaging and eye-based diagnostics. Others are deploying AI to design better clinical trials or predict the progression of the disease.

Neuromodulation and Electromagnetic Therapies

One member company is tackling Alzheimer’s with a device that modulates the brain’s electrical activity. Its personalized closed-loop neuromodulation therapy stimulates key memory-related networks to enhance neuroplasticity and support cognitive function.

Another is advancing Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment using Radio Frequencies (TEMT-RF), a therapy being developed, tested, and brought to market to prevent, treat, and even reverse cognitive decline caused by neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The company’s first product, which has gained coveted Breakthrough Device status from the FDA, is a headset that delivers low-level radio frequencies to the brain during daily at-home sessions. Early clinical studies and observational data suggest this approach can stop and even reverse cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients. The device utilizes radio frequencies to break up toxic protein oligomers—known to be drivers of Alzheimer’s disease—throughout the brain. It restores a healthier balance in the body’s immune system, calming harmful inflammation in the brain and blood, while also boosting energy production within brain cells.

Reason for Hope

Drugs that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s are a great leap forward. But with the complexity of the brain and the variability of the disease, it’s clear that pursuing a diverse set of approaches is necessary to improve detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

This is precisely what is happening in the Alzheimer’s Moonshot Community, where biotech companies, engineers, neuroscientists, and investors are working side-by-side and openly sharing their findings.

Cross-disciplinary collaboration is essential to tackle a disease as complex as Alzheimer’s. By uniting the best minds with bold ideas—and equipping them with the resources to scale—the community is driving progress not just toward better treatments, but toward prevention and eventual cures.