Alzheimer’s Specialist Offers Hope, Seeks Study Candidates

DANBURY — Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, especially in aging patients. Dementia’s many forms affect four million people in the United States and upwards of 26 million worldwide. Currently, available medications that treat Alzheimer’s are aimed to maximize remaining brain activity to slow the progression of this disease.

While there are no treatments as of yet that can reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s, many studies are underway that hope to discover new methods of early detection.

“What causes Alzheimer’s disease? We don’t know for sure, but we have theories,” said Dr Samuel Markind, Danbury Hospital neurologist and practicing physician at Associated Neurologists.

Some of the theories for the onset of Alzheimer’s include: Tau proteins, inflammation, vascular disease, nerve protective factors, and the most commonly accepted theory — the amyloid hypothesis.

“This is the leading hypothesis of Alzheimer’s development as of now,” Dr Markind said.

The amyloid hypothesis highlights that the plaque appearing on the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s contains amyloid. There are also some correlations between the 27th gene seen in individuals with Down syndrome and codes for amyloid precursor protein, which is believed to speed up the process of Alzheimer’s.

Medications such as Donepezil have shown to significantly reduce the rate of Alzheimer’s progression, sustaining a patient’s level of cognition for a longer period of time. Once a patient is on medication, he or she must continue treatment in order to maintain the slowed rate of progression.

If an individual with Alzheimer’s stops taking medication, the dementia will resume its normal degenerative rate.

“We would like to find a way to diagnose patients earlier,” Dr Markind said. Alzheimer’s disease is a process that begins a significant amount of time before symptoms manifest. It is only then a doctor can make a diagnosis, with hopes of intervening in the mild to moderate stages.

However, the earlier Alzheimer’s is detected, the more effective treatment a patient will receive.

Dr Markind believes there are three major needs in the Alzheimer’s community, which have gone unmet. Tests must be developed to support early detection while making an accurate diagnosis.

New medication must be developed that will further reduce or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and inevitably restore function, and a clinical risk factor assessment should to be developed for people who are deemed at risk of developing the disease.

Highlighting a new study that may one day improve diagnostic abilities, Dr Markind said, “At Associated Neurologists, we are currently working on SPECT scans with the Institute of Neurological Disorders, located in New Haven. We have been working with them to recruit patients where we would do the prep work here in Danbury and send them for imaging in New Haven. We need to develop better tests and treatments because both go hand-in-hand.”

The Investigational Clinical Amyloid Research in Alzheimer’s study is currently being administered to patients in the latter stages of Alzheimer’s. The study examines an intravenous medication known as Bapineuzumab, which is believed to be safe and effective at slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

The administered medication also contains antibody proteins that clean up amyloid within the plaque found in the brain. Anyone who wants more information on the study may contact Associated Neurologists at 748-2551, and ask for the research coordinator, Margaret Mukwaya.