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Cleveland Clinic seeks diverse participants in clinical trials for Alzheimer's treatment

Alzheimers Association
Posted at 6:18 PM, May 31, 2021
and last updated 2021-05-31 18:31:58-04

CLEVELAND — Roughly six million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and experts hope a new clinical trial can change that.

“What we’re talking about now is helping people never go into the dementia symptoms of Alzheimer's if we can find a treatment,” said Eric VanVlymen “But to make those treatments work we have to move into early detection first.”

This trial is specifically for participants between 55 and 85 who don’t have Alzheimer's symptoms.

VanVlymen said the goal is to learn how to address the disease before it develops.

“What they’re looking for in this study is people who are before this stage of dementia and maybe their parents had it, or they’re just concerned and want to be tested,” said VanVlymen. “It’s a whole new layer of science available to us.”

Dr. Babak Tousi with Cleveland Clinic will be administering the trials. He says participants will be given a form of medicine called Monoclonal Antibodies.

“The trial is almost four years, it depends on what group people fall into,” said Babak. “The participant may receive it every two weeks to every four through infusion.”

VanVlymen explained diverse participants are needed because Black people are twice as likely to get Alzheimer's and those of Hispanic descent and one and half times as likely.

For more information on the trial, click here.

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