Treating Alzheimer’s before It Happens
A drug trial in Colombia is trying to find whether dementia can be prevented 10 to 15 years before its expected onset
Treating Alzheimer’s before It Happens
- A Physician's Discovery The neurologist Francisco Lopera of the University of Antioquia in Medellin found families in the early 1980s with a genetic form of Alzheimer’s in the Colombian province of Antioquia. Lopera went on to build extensive genealogies of these families. He helped discover the culprit gene and is now collaborating with U.S. researchers to test a drug intended to prevent the disease. Image credit: Juan Arredondo
- Family Portrait Alzheimer’s has afflicted several generations of the family of Yolanda, seated, who suffers from the disease. Her two daughters, Alejandra and Carolina (at rear), along with her granddaughter Luna are hoping that the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative, the name of the clinical trial, may find a drug that may help them if they fall ill. Image credit: Juan Arredondo
- Orfa This 36-year-old woman makes the trip regularly to Medellin to receive either a drug or placebo as part of a clinical trial that will last through 2021. The trial will test Genentech’s crenezumab, designed to bind to and remove the aberrant protein that is thought to underlie Alzheimer’s. As part of the trial, she receives brain scans to determine whether the drug is working. Image credit: Juan Arredondo
