About 5 million people live with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States, and nearly 30,000 of them are in Nevada, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
While there is still no cure, The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is testing a drug that could actually slow the progression of the memory-robbing disease. If successful, the drug could be a breakthrough in a disease that is still much unknown. The Cleveland Clinic is one of about 50 medical centers across the country participating in the study called NOBLE.
Those 10-15 participants in the study with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s will be observed in a clinical study for the effects of a drug called T-817MA, and monitored over the next 14 months. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved a new drug for Alzheimer’s since 2003, and according to Dr. Charles Bernick, T-817MA still has a ways to go before receiving approval.
“It’s got a long way to go, even if it is successful,” Bernick said. “The biggest barrier to getting these studies done is getting volunteers.”
The drug may be five years away from being used in the mainstream, Bernick said, but if the drug could reduce the effect of Alzheimer’s, up to half of the number of people who suffer the disease could benefit and increase their lifespan.
GUEST
Dr. Charles Bernick, associate director, The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health
Copyright 2015 KNPR-FM. To see more, visit http://www.knpr.org/.