US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced how an experimental drug may delay Alzheimer's in patients with early stages of the disease.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, a disorder affecting about 44-million people worldwide.
For years, scientists have been looking for a breakthrough and now they might have found it.
There are a few medications that can ease the symptoms of the disease.
Experimental drug, solanezumab, may be able to halt it, by attacking the deformed proteins, called amyloid, that build up in the brain.
The latest data suggests that if taken in the early stages, the drug can cut the rate of dementia progression by about a third.
Jack Sach from Alzheimer's Australia said Alzheimer's disease affects 342,000 Australians.
He said there have been many failures in dementia research over the years.
"Of all the trials that have occurred over the last 20 years only two have shown beneficial results."
He said solanezumab was trialled previously, but without success.
But Mr Sach said the drug may work for people in the mild stages of the disease.
"What they have discovered though, is they think they've introduced the drug too late in the disease process - that once the congitive decline has started, it's very hard to reverse it."
It's hoped a trial, scheduled for next year, will provide definitive evidence.
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