Volunteers are needed in Iowa to test a new drug which researchers say has promising potential in preventing or slowing Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Reisa Sperling, a neurology professor at Harvard University, says the medical trial will run three-and-a-half years. That may seem quite long, but memory changes can progress very slowly, so she says it’s important to study people over time.https://soundcloud.com/wnax-radio/sperling-1107a
*
University Hospitals in Iowa City is one of 60 sites in the nation where the so-called A-4 study will be done. Sperling says that A-4 stands for the Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s study.
*
More than five-million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and by 2050, scientists expect that number to triple to 15-million or more. Volunteers will need to report to the hospital once a month over the course of the study and each visit may last 30 to 60 minutes. Taking part will involve memory tests, brain scans, M-R-Is and the drug will be administered using an I-V.
She expects ten-thousand patients will be screened at the 60 sites in order to find the 11-hundred-50 who will be chosen for the study.