Category: News

Ongoing international research led by Washington University investigators is changing the Alzheimer’s disease landscape from hopeless to hopeful.

An experimental Alzheimer’s drug that had previously appeared to show promise in slowing the deterioration of thinking and memory has failed in a large Eli Lilly clinical trial, dealing a significant disappointment to patients hoping for a treatment that would alleviate their symptoms.

Nobody knew each other’s name. Even so, 60 people who either were at risk of having an autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s mutation, or were accompanying someone who was, exchanged information about a shared problem. There were moments of validation—“Denial has divided my family, too!”—and apprehensive questions—“Do you want to know if you have it?”

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a $4.3 million award from the Alzheimer’s Association to expand a major international clinical trial evaluating whether drugs can prevent Alzheimer’s disease in patients genetically predisposed to develop the devastating disease at a young age.

He has the disease and he’s lost five family members to it, now he’s enrolled in a study hoping to find some answers in Alzheimer’s disease.