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Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Study Seeks Older
Volunteers
Nationwide study by the National Institutes of
Health needs 800 seniors
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Dr. Maya Angelou Asks Adults
Ages 55 - 90 to Join Study |
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Feb. 10, 2006 - The Alzheimer’s Disease
Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) -- a project developed by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) -- is seeking 800 older adults to participate
in a study aimed at identifying biological markers of memory decline and
Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ultimately, scientists hope that brain and
biological changes can be detected before memory decline and other
symptoms appear, allowing the effectiveness of drugs to be evaluated at
the earliest possible time.
The $60 million, 5-year ADNI study is the most
comprehensive effort to date to identify brain and other biological
changes associated with memory decline. The project was begun by the
National Institute on Aging (NIA) and is supported by more than a dozen
other federal agencies and private-sector companies and organizations.
Investigators at 58 local study sites across the U.S. and Canada will be
asking people ages 55 to 90 to become a part of this landmark research.
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How to Learn More |
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The public can find out more about participating
in the research and obtain a list of study sites online by
Clicking Here or by contacting the NIA’s Alzheimer’s Disease
Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center at 1-800-438-4380.
Those interested in participating in the project
are encouraged to contact the study site closest to them.
Spanish-language capabilities are available at some of the study
sites.
The NIA leads the Federal effort in research on
AD and age-related cognitive change. For more information on
participation in a number of clinical studies on AD, visit
www.clinicaltrials.gov (search for “Alzheimer’s disease”
trials) or the ADEAR Center website at
www.alzheimers.org, or contact ADEAR toll free at
1-800-438-4380. The ADEAR Center also provides information to
the public and health care professionals about AD and
age-related cognitive change.
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An estimated 4.5 million people in the U.S. have
AD, the most common cause of dementia, and the number is rising as baby
boomers enter their older years.
“We encourage people to participate in this
important study because it will help us to identify needed biological
markers of memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease. These biomarkers
could become comparable to the cholesterol measures now used as
biomarkers for heart disease,” says Susan Molchan, M.D., program
director for the ADNI project at the NIA.
“In addition, using what we learn from the brain
scans and other tests, we hope to lessen the time and cost of testing
drugs and to bring treatments to patients much sooner.”
Scientists are looking for new ways to measure
changes in the brain that occur with normal aging and with the
progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a subtle but measurable
transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and
very early AD. People with MCI have memory impairments but otherwise
function well and do not meet clinical criteria for dementia.
The ADNI researchers will employ serial magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI); positron emission tomography (PET) scans;
measurement of various biological compounds in blood, cerebrospinal
fluid, and urine; and clinical and neuropsychological assessments to
track MCI and early AD progression. MRI and PET scans are used in both
medical practice and research to produce images of the brain.
The study’s principal investigator (PI) is
neuroimaging expert Michael W. Weiner, M.D., of the San Francisco
Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San
Francisco. The Northern California Institute for Research and Education,
a foundation affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
has been awarded the multi-center ADNI grant.
Weiner explains that the 800 adults ages 55 to 90
sought for the study will be divided into three groups:
● approximately 200 cognitively normal older
people will be followed for 3 years,
● 400 people with MCI will be followed for 3 years, and
● 200 people with early AD will be followed for 2 years.
At the end of the study, the researchers will
compare neuroimaging, biological, and clinical information from the
participants, looking for correlations among the data to develop
standards for tracking the progression of memory decline.
A unique feature of the project is the development
of an imaging and biomarker database that can be tapped by researchers
in both the public and private sectors as they develop and test drugs
for memory decline.
“Our goal is to ‘see’ critical brain changes and to
identify biochemical indicators that may be useful in evaluating
treatments aimed at slowing memory decline and AD,” explains Weiner.
Dr. Maya Angelou
A special aspect of the project is the support of
Dr. Maya Angelou, the eminent poet, author, educator, and historian. Dr.
Angelou, a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, is
working with the researchers to ask the public to take part in the study
through the national ADNI recruitment outreach campaign, “Imagine
Stopping the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease,” in which she will
appear in radio and print public service announcements. She has a number
of "dear friends" who have suffered the effects of AD.
For more about Dr. Angelou's background -
click here.
ADNI is the largest public-private partnership on
brain research underway at the NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS). In addition to the NIA, the Federal ADNI partners are
the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, also
part of NIH, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, another DHHS
agency.
Partnership with private-sector funders is managed
through the not-for-profit Foundation for the National Institutes of
Health, established by the U.S. Congress to support NIH’s mission by
facilitating private-sector organizations’ support of and involvement
with NIH programs.
Corporate and non-profit participants are: Pfizer
Inc; Wyeth Research; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Eli Lilly and Company;
GlaxoSmithKline; Merck & Co., Inc.; AstraZeneca AB; Novartis
Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Eisai Global Clinical Development; the
Alzheimer’s Association; Elan Corporation, plc; and the Institute for
the Study of Aging. (More information on the Foundation for NIH is
available at:
www.fnih.org.)
Siemens, Philips, and General Electric, the three
primary companies that develop and manufacture imaging equipment, are
providing software support for the imaging aspects of the project.
Other investigators for the project are Leon Thal,
M.D., University of California at San Diego, (Coordinating Center),
Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
(Clinical Aspects), Clifford Jack, M.D., Mayo Clinic (Neuroimaging/MRI
Core);
William Jagust, M.D., University of California,
Berkeley (Neuroimaging/PET Core); John Q. Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D.,
University of Pennsylvania (Biomarker Core); Arthur W. Toga, Ph.D.,
University of California, Los Angeles (Bioinformatics Core); and Laurel
Beckett, Ph.D., University of California, Davis (Biostatistics Core). In
addition, there are investigators at all of the study sites throughout
the United States and Canada.
Read more in SeniorJournal.com about
Alzheimer's & Dementia
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