Stanford Report, March 22, 2006

Alzheimer's study needs volunteers

BY PATTI KAHN

There is currently no way to predict the silent arrival of Alzheimer's disease. Only the beginnings of memory loss announce its encroachment. But what if doctors could determine whether someone was likely to develop Alzheimer's and could intervene before the disease progressed?

Researchers are attempting to do just that in a comprehensive new study launched last month by the National Institutes of Health. The Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center is one of 58 study sites across the United States and Canada that is seeking volunteers for the project. Jerome Yesavage, MD, the center's director and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is overseeing the Stanford component in conjunction with the nationwide study's principal investigator, Michael Weiner, MD, of the San Francisco VA Medical Center and UCSF.

The comprehensive study, called the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, will monitor 800 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 90 over the next three years in hopes of identifying changes to the brain or blood that signal the development of Alzheimer's. Through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), the study will monitor the brain for telltale changes that precede or accompany memory loss. Researchers will also sample blood and cerebrospinal fluid in search of biological markers that can be correlated with Alzheimer's.

According to the NIH, "The $60 million study is the most comprehensive effort to date to identify brain and other biological changes associated with memory decline." Susan Molchan, MD, the study's program director at NIH, said that the findings could help to identify biological markers that could be "comparable to the cholesterol measures now used as biomarkers for heart disease."

The project is funded by the NIH and its foundation, which has received donations from more than a dozen companies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also participating in the project.

Researchers are seeking three types of 55- to 90-year-old volunteers to participate in this study: People who are in good general health and have no memory problems; people who are in good general health but have memory problems or concerns, and people who have a diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease. Each volunteer will receive an MRI or PET scan every six months to monitor brain changes. In addition, subjects will have blood and, in some cases, cerebrospinal fluid drawn and analyzed.

Participants must be fluent in English or Spanish and have a friend or relative who can accompany them to clinic visits or answer questions over the phone. To volunteer or for additional information, contact Kelly Landy at 852-3287.

Patti Kahn is a science-writing intern in the medical school's Office of Communication & Public Affairs.