Experts say that African Americans are two to three times more likely than white Americans to develop Alzheimer's disease.
A groundbreaking study testing whether a medication can slow the disease from developing even further, this study seeks volunteers including African Americans who have just the earliest changes in their brain associated with Alzheimer's but don’t yet have any symptoms.
The Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimers study (A4 Study), funded by the National Institute on Aging, Eli Lilly, and several other organizations, seeks to delay Alzheimers-related memory loss before any outward signs of Alzheimer's disease develop. Healthy people with normal memories may also join a clinical trial aiming to prevent memory loss associated with the disease.
"It is extremely important that African Americans get involved with this study," said Reisa Sperling, MD, main research person for the A4 Study and a physician and faculty member at Harvard University. "We need to know why African Americans develop Alzheimer's in such high numbers, and the A4 Study offers new hope that we can give people a way to fight back."
This research study takes a new approach to Alzheimer's by testing for a high level of a protein known as amyloid in the brain. Researchers believe this protein may play an important role in the development of the memory loss associated with the disease.
The primary goal of the A4 Study is to test whether this new medication can help slow the progression of the memory loss. Another important focus of the study is to try to figure out why certain populations, including African Americans, are more likely to develop this disease.
The A4 Study needs 1,000 healthy participants between the ages of 65 and 85 who have normal thinking and memory to enroll in sites across the United States. Researchers estimate that 10,000 people will need to be screened to find 1,000 individuals who qualify.
How To Enroll:
Potential study volunteers can learn more about the study including how to enroll by visiting the A4 Study website here, contacting 844-A-4-Study (844-247-8839) or by emailing BrainLink@ucsd.edu.
