More than 5.1 million people across the U.S. are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, and every 70 seconds another person develops this devastating disease.
In New York alone, approximately 320,000 people are currently living with Alzheimer’s. Mount Sinai School of Medicine is studying the subtle changes that may take place in the brains of older people many years before overt symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease appear. Researchers are looking for New Yorkers who are beginning to experience memory problems that affect their daily activities.
Volunteers are needed who are between the ages of 55 and 90 and are willing to be studied over time. Those eligible need to be moving from normal cognitive aging to an early stage of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition that may progress to Alzheimer’s disease, but are otherwise healthy. Volunteers will receive the latest information about the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s. In addition, their physical health will be closely monitored and any new information about their physical health will be shared with the participant.
The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will use imaging techniques specifically developed to advance research into changes taking place in the structure and function of the living brain, as well as biomarker measures found in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
Researchers hope to understand the full spectrum of the disease and be better able to identify who is at risk, track progression of the disorder, and devise measurements to test the effectiveness of potential prevention or treatment strategies.
In addition to Mount Sinai, there are 50 other sites across the United States participating in the study. Newly enrolled participants and some original study volunteers will undergo a lumbar puncture to collect cerebrospinal fluids. The study also involves blood tests and neuroimaging methods such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and amyloid imaging.
To volunteer or learn more about the study, contact Aliza Romirowsky at Mount Sinai at (212) 241-1514 or go to www.adcs.org/Studies/ImagineADNI.asp. Volunteers must speak English or Spanish and have a person willing to assist them during at least five clinic visits and with telephone contacts from researchers.
