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Researchers
Look for Earliest Changes in the Brain That May Lead to Alzheimer’s
Disease
Clinical Study Needs Local Volunteers
Staff Writer
Volunteers
are being sought for a clinical study examining the subtle changes
that may take place in the brains of older people many years before
overt symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear.
Researchers are looking for people with the very earliest complaints of memory
problems that affect their daily activities. The study will follow participants
over time, using imaging techniques developed to advance research into changes
taking place in the structure and function of the living brain, as well as biomarker
measures found in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), and the NIH Office of the Director are funding the $24 million, two-year
Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative Grand Opportunity (ADNI-GO)
study.
Researchers seek to recruit 200 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 90 who
may be transitioning from normal cognitive aging to an early stage of amnestic
mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition that may progress to Alzheimer’s
disease. Participants may volunteer at 51 sites (Sacramento included) across
the United States.
“ADNI-GO is part of an ongoing effort to establish imaging and fluid biomarker
measures of Alzheimer’s disease from the onset of mild symptoms to the
advanced stages of the disease process,” said NIA director Richard J. Hodes,
M.D.
“By advancing understanding of the full spectrum of the disease, we’ll
be better able to identify who is at risk, track progression of the disorder,
and devise measurements to test the effectiveness of potential prevention or
treatment strategies,” Hodes added.
The new ADNI-GO effort enables researchers to continue studying nearly 500 of
the original ADNI volunteers, while expanding the study to include the new participants
with early amnestic MCI. Newly enrolled participants and some original study
volunteers will undergo a lumbar puncture to collect cerebrospinal fluids.
“The objective of ADNI-GO is to add to the power of the original study
by increasing our knowledge of the sequence and timing of events involved in
the disease from its earliest measureable point, perhaps even pre-symptomatically,
to overt Alzheimer’s disease,” said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, Ph.D.,
director of NIA’s Division of Neuroscience.
The ability to gain this knowledge is only possible, Morrison-Bogorad emphasized,
through the generosity of research volunteers.
“The research community is deeply grateful to the volunteers, and their
families and friends, who give of themselves in this search for a cure for or
prevention of Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.
To volunteer or learn more about the study, contact the NIA Alzheimer’s
Disease Education and Referral Center by calling 1-800-438-4380 or by going to
www.nia.nih.gov/ Alzheimers. Volunteers must speak English or Spanish and have
a person willing to assist them during at least five clinic visits and with telephone
contacts from researchers.
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Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
