From the Editor: Help Find a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease
It’s likely that at some point you have worried about your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as you age. Along with older adults who already have been diagnosed with AD, and their caregivers, you’re probably hoping that scientists will soon identify drugs or other treatments that stop or even reverse the disease. There are about 130 experimental AD drugs currently in clinical trials—other research is focusing on finding more accurate diagnostic tests that detect AD in its earliest stages, when existing treatments may work better to slow the speed of cognitive decline. In this month’s issue, we’re looking at a blood test that has shown some promise—click here for more.
There have been numerous setbacks in AD drug discovery and development (in fact, no new AD drugs have been approved since 2003). One problem is recruiting volunteers to take part in human testing. Screening volunteers is a long process (it has been estimated that researchers screen more than 700,000 people for every 10 enrolled study participants), and sometimes recruitment goals are not met. It has been particularly difficult to recruit older adults and people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and these individuals remain under-represented in clinical trials.
There are advantages to volunteering for AD research. You’ll receive expert medical care at leading healthcare facilities that may help you better manage your general health, and any chronic conditions you have. You’ll learn about what you can do to lower your risk of cognitive issues as you age, and if you are randomly selected for the trial’s intervention group, you will gain access to new treatments that aren’t yet available. But there also are some downsides to participation. For example, trials can be time-consuming, since they involve regularly meeting with the research team for ongoing monitoring. It is possible that experimental drugs will cause side effects—conversely, you may be selected for a trial’s “control” group, meaning that you will not receive potentially beneficial treatments. Memory assessments performed during the trial may suggest that you are showing symptoms of cognitive decline, or genetic tests may reveal you are at particularly high risk for AD. Even so, I urge you to consider participating.
The fact we know as much as we do about AD is because tens of thousands of people have volunteered to undergo tests of their memory and cognitive function; contribute DNA, blood and cerebrospinal fluid for examination; and have brain imaging scans. Despite the fact we haven’t yet found a cure for AD, every one of these individuals has contributed toward the advancement of science, and the care and treatment of others with AD as well as people who may develop it at some time in the future. If you are interested in being one of these volunteers, I recommend you contact your local Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, which you can locate via the National Institute on Aging website (https://bit.ly/2H7yWy1).
By: Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
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