Page 35 - Leisure Living Magazine May 2017

News About Clinical Trials For Alzheimer’s Disease
By Theresa Bowen, Ph.D., Email - theesajb@gmail.com
Clinical Trials can help scientists find better ways to treat disease but improved treatments can never become a reality without testing with human volunteers. The benefits of participating in a clinical trial include helping you to play an active role in your own healthcare, access to po- tential treatments before they become available to everyone, and receiving expert medical care at leading healthcare facilities.
Every clinical trial contributes to research even if the treatment doesn’t work. Research does indicate that people who participate in a clinical trial tend to do somewhat better than people in a similar level of their disease who do not participate. Many caregivers encourage other caregivers to continually investigate the on-going clinical trials that are available. Inves- tigation is easier with the new online database created by the Alzheimer’s Association called Trial Match. Trial Match is a free, user friendly matching service that connects individuals with Alzheimer’s, caregivers, healthy individuals and physicians that conduct the clinical trials. See the video at http://www.alz.org/research/clini- cal_trials/find_clinical_trials_trialmatch.asp
You will need to create an account to begin using the database. They will also provide email notifications to connect you to new clinical tri- als as they become available. Currently there are more than 225 clinical studies being conduct- ed at nearly 700 trial sites across the country. It is advised by the Alzheimer’s Association to talk to your doctor at your next visit to help you identify what questions might be important to ask before you decide to participate in any clini- cal trial. If your doctor is unaware of the clinical trials in your area Trial Match may help. Joining a clinical trial provides the opportunity to par- ticipate in valuable research that might change the course of Alzheimer’s disease and improve the lives of all that are affected by the disease. Most importantly you may help future genera- tions.
In 2016 the Clinical Trials of Alzheimer’s Dis- ease (CTAD) learned of the importance of non-
drug trials and anti-amyloid treatment. An- ti-amyloid treatment is preventing the growth of protein in the brain and can begin early on in the disease process. The CTAD’s 2017 goal is to bring together today’s worldwide leaders to discuss new results and methodological issues important to the development of the next gen- eration of Alzheimer’s disease treatments. This conference will be held in Boston November 1-4, 2017. Clinical trial teams will report their efforts to identify new biomarkers of the disease along with assessment tools to identify those at risk. Will prevention of amyloids in the brain of those with no symptoms become the new key to prevention of Alzheimer’s disease? Research is on-going.
According to Dr. David Geldmacher, Alzhei- mer’s disease is all about a protein in our brain. A new study aims to look at preventing Alzhei- mer’s disease by identifying the presence of the protein with pet scans. If the protein exists they would administer a therapy that will remove the amyloids. They are currently looking for people 65 or older who are concerned about the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease but are yet to have any symptoms. People who are interested in these clinical trials are those who have a strong genetic predisposition with both parents having been diagnosed with the disease. The idea be- hind these new clinical trials is to identify the accumulation of this protein in the brain and then treat it because this is the first step that eventually leads to brain cell loss and Alzhei- mer’s disease. Dr. Geldmacher states “targeting the disease at early stages of the illness may pre- vent the symptoms from showing up.”
Once again talking to your doctor about clini- cal trials can help in your decision-making pro- cess and be your first course of action if you are interested in participating.
Theresa Bowen, Ph.D. is an Educational Consultant and Dis- tance Education professor. She conducts technical training for commu- nity colleges, universities, and small businesses. Dr. Bowen earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Toledo, OH. When she isn’t glued to a computer she en- joys playing piano, making videos, and painting.
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