A nationwide study, now enrolling in Chicago, is examining whether a drug that is FDA-approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease can prevent the neurodegenerative disease.
“My mom died with it. My sister has it. At this point, she’s 81 and still alive and suffering with it,” said Jane Hansen, 76, from Naperville.
Hansen enrolled in the clinical trial, called the AHEAD study, because of her family history.
“My mom wrote children’s books and the first thing that she lost were her words. She could not find the right words, which I find I can do and, in the minute I do it, I think ‘Oh, oh, here I go,” Hansen said.
Hansen enrolled in the trial at RUSH University Medical Center. Researchers want to know whether lecanemab, a drug already approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease, can prevent it.
“It’s a monoclonal antibody, which means it will go ahead and attack the amyloid plaques in the brain,” said Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, a professor in the department of neurological sciences and the site principal investigator at RUSH.
“You have an accumulation of this amyloid and, over time, that accumulation causes issues where the brain cells can’t communicate as well with each other,” Aggarwal said.
“The plaque is not always a sign that you have Alzheimer’s. But my understanding is that if you have Alzheimer’s, you have the plaque,” Hansen said.
To qualify for the AHEAD study, you must be between the ages of 55 and 80 and have not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are going to give this medication in this group of people to see if we can remove any amyloid that is already there and also prevent any new amyloid from being deposited,” Aggarwal said.
The drug is given through an intravenous infusion, every two to four weeks depending on your enrollment.
“It’s a long study, you know, these studies, unfortunately, take long to show results. So it can go up to four years, four and a half years from when people come in,” Aggarwal said.
“It’s a big commitment. It’s a four and a half year commitment,” Hansen said, explaining that she still felt compelled to sign up.
“I have plaque. And I also have the gene. I got one of the genes, probably from my mom, because she had Alzheimer’s, and it raises the likelihood that I will have Alzheimer’s,” Hansen said, adding that she believes this is much bigger than her own brain health.
“If it’s something that I can do, that will change someone else’s future from this disease, which I know personally, and really don’t like, I’m doing it,” Hansen said.
Dr. Aggarwal said they are looking for candidates from a variety of racial and ethnic groups, saying diversity in enrollment is very important.
“We want you to come in the study and want to follow and see how things go because we want these drugs to be for everybody,” Aggarwal said.
For more information about the AHEAD study, click here.
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