National
Brain Imaging Study
On Alzheimer's Disease
to Identify Biological
Changes Associated with
Memory Decline
Study
is Largest, Most Comprehensive
of Its Kind
By Debra Kain | February 13, 2006
The UCSD Shiley-Marcos
Alzheimer's Disease
Research Center will
be part of the five-year,
$60 million Alzheimer's
Disease Neuroimaging
Initiative, a landmark
research study to identify
brain and other biological
changes associated with
memory decline.
The project was begun
by the National Institute
on Aging at the National
Institutes of Health
(NIH) and is supported
by more than a dozen
other federal agencies
and private-sector companies
and organizations, making
it the largest public-private
partnership on brain
research underway at
the NIH. Investigators
at 58 sites across the
United States and Canada
are involved with the
study, which is being
led by Dr. Leon Thal,
chair of the UCSD Department
of Neurosciences and
director of UCSD’s
Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s
Disease Research Center;
Dr. Michael Weiner,
San Francisco Veterans
Affairs Medical Center
and the University of
California, San Francisco;
and Dr. Ronald Petersen,
Mayo Clinic, Rochester,
Minn..
The goal of the initiative is to speed up the search for treatments and cures for Alzheimer’s disease by seeing whether imaging of the brain – through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET) scans conducted every six months – can help predict and monitor the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s. In addition, samples of blood and, for some participants, cerebral spinal fluid will be collected and tested to determine if these biomarkers can predict and monitor the disease. It is hoped that imaging techniques and biomarkers will prove useful in testing the effectiveness of new therapies in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s or preventing the disease altogether.
The NIH is seeking 800 men and women between the
ages of 55 and 90 to
participate in the Alzheimer's
Disease Neuroimaging
Initiative study. Researchers
are looking for people
who are in good general
health with no memory
problems, or are in
good general health
but have memory problems
or concerns, or have
a diagnosis of mild
cognitive impairment
or early Alzheimer’s
disease.
Patients seeking more
information about the
study in the San Diego
area should contact
the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer’s
Disease Research Center
at 858-622-5800; the
National Institute on
Aging's Alzheimer’s
Disease Education &
Referral Center at 800-438-4380
or visit www.alzheimers.org/imagine.
Spanish-language capabilities
are available at some
of the study sites.
Alzheimer’s disease affects one in 10 Americans over the age of 65. By the year 2050, 13 million Americans may suffer from the disease.
A special aspect of this project is the support
of Maya Angelou, the
eminent poet, author,
educator and historian.
Angelou, a professor
at Wake Forest University
in Winston-Salem, N.C.,
is working with the
researchers to ask the
public to take part
in the study. She will
support the national
recruitment outreach
campaign, “Imagine
Stopping the Progression
of Alzheimer’s
Disease,” by appearing
in radio and print public
service announcements.
Angelou has a number
of friends who have
suffered the effects
of Alzheimer’s.
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