Alzheimer's Prevention

Could taking a drug everyday help keep a person with memory loss from developing Alzheimer's disease? A national study is being conducted to answer that question. We'll tell you why this study is so important.

Four million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. At this rate, 10 million Americans will have it by the year 2040. Norman Foster, M.D., hopes to decrease that number by treating high-risk patients before they have the disease.

"We'd all like to prevent Alzheimer's disease. That would be much better than trying to treat people who already have significant brain damage," says Dr. Foster, a neurologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Ethel Henderson is at high-risk for Alzheimer's. Both of her sisters suffered from the disease. "It's very difficult because the one sister was real bad," she says.

Ethel has been diagnosed as having mild cognitive impairment or MCI, a condition that increases her risk of getting Alzheimer's.

Dr. Foster says, "It's normal for people to have difficulty recalling names of people they don't see very often, but people who have MCI or Alzheimer's disease won't remember that they've even seen someone."

In this study, MCI patients take either a multi-vitamin as the placebo, vitamin E, which has shown promise in Alzheimer's patients, or the drug donepezil, already approved for treatment of Alzheimer's.

"There is the potential that this actually could prevent the full-blown development of the disease. So, it's worth a try," says Dr. Foster.

Ethel hopes being part of the study, along with her prayers, will make the difference. "I just feel like it's in the Lord's hands now," she says.