CLEVELAND, Ohio - Could a drug already on the market help prevent Alzheimer’s disease decades before it even shows up in patients prone to the disease? for memory loss, and giving it to people at risk for Alzheimer’s and Dementia, long before symptoms begin.
“What we know is that Alzheimer’s disease actually starts in the brain almost 20 years prior to any symptoms,” Dr. Alan Lerner told 19 News. “So if your mom developed symptoms at 80 there changes in the brain have been there possibly since you was 60.” Patients participating don’t have memory loss, yet, but they do have amyloid protein deposits in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
“The nice part about it is you’re monitored all the time as far as blood tests, brain scans, MRI’s,” said Kerr.But he has full faith that they’re moving in the right direction.