In the News
San Diego Neurologist: New Alzheimer’s Drug Could Slow Or Halt Disease Progression
Source: KPBS
There is no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease yet, but researchers at UC San Diego said there is reason to be optimistic. They are testing a new drug for its potential to slow or halt the progression of the debilitating brain disease.
“We’re very excited about this trial,” said Howard Feldman, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, a program that develops and conducts nationwide clinical trials to test new Alzheimer’s drugs.
The latest study being launched, called T2 Protect AD, will examine the drug troriluzole on 350 people who have mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.
“We are examining for benefits in cognitive function and thinking and memory over the course of one year,” said Feldman, a renowned neurologist noted for his research in geriatric cognitive disorders and expertise in large-scale clinical trials.
“We’re aiming to achieve somewhere of about a 40 percent reduction in what would typically happen to a person over this period of time,” Feldman explained. “So our goal is to reduce close to by half what their normal decline would be.”
In pre-clinical studies, Feldman said troriluzole slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by protecting the brain’s neurons from an overabundance of a molecule called glutamate. Feldman said excessive glutamate can disrupt nerve health and communication and may lead to nerve cell death.