Studies in Healthy Older People Aim to Prevent Alzheimer's

Two studies seek to prevent Alzheimer's via treatments that target early brain changes early on when memory and thinking skills are still unaffected, reports the Associated Press . "If we really want to come up with therapies that will modify the disease, we need to start very, very, very early," says the National Institute on Aging's Eliezer Masliah. The studies will attempt to impede the earliest steps of plaque formation in asymptomatic people who are at higher risk for dementia due to age and possession of the APOE4 gene. Participants must join GeneMatch, a confidential registry of people who want to volunteer for various Alzheimer's studies, are aged 55 to 75 years old, and have not been diagnosed with any cognitive decline. To be eligible, applicants must agree to learn their APOE4 status and have at least one copy of the gene. Participants undergo periodic brain scans and memory and thinking tests every six months, then receive experimental drugs or placebos for several years. One study is enrolling people with two copies of APOE4, who are either administered shots of a drug every few months to help the immune system clear plaque from the brain, daily pills of a medication to prevent initial steps of plaque formation, or placebos. For the other study, participants either must have two copies of APOE4 or one copy of the gene plus evidence on brain scans of plaque accrual, and they get one of two doses of the drug to prevent plaque formation or placebos.