Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

The Westlake Longevity Cohort (We-Longevity) is a prospective cohort study among centenarians, nonagenarians, senior citizens and their family members up to three generations living in Lishui, China. The primary aim of this cohort is to characterize the multi-omics molecular characteristics of healthy longevity and their dynamic trajectories. Another aim of We-Longevity is to investigate the association of dietary and lifestyle with the multi-omics molecular characteristics of healthy longevity, and to facilitate the development of personalized nutritional/lifestyle recommendation for the public.

B cube is a new generation cohort to study the determinants and natural history of brain aging, using molecular epidemiology, in a representative sample (N=2000) of the general population from the age of 55 (the approximate age of onset of the first cognitive disorders and a target population particularly receptive to prevention messages). Special interest will be given to nutrition, a promising environmental exposure for prevention.

High body fat at midlife, as evidenced by overweight or obese body mass index (BMI), is increasingly understood as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. However, the underlying processes and mechanisms that may underlie this risk remains unknown. With this project, the Investigator proposes to create a new cohort of cognitively normal 120 midlife individuals, age 40-60 years. The investigator and research staff will characterize the participant's overweight or obese status using metabolic tests including, an oral glucose tolerance test, fasting plasma insulin, fasting plasma glucose, and hemoglobin A1c measurements. This testing will generate categories of metabolically abnormal overweight and obese (MAOO), metabolically normal overweight and obese (MNOO), and metabolically normal lean participants (MNLP). Research staff will evaluate differences between these groups on neuroimaging with the newer classification framework of Alzheimer's biomarkers with amyloid (A), tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N), or ATN. Neurodegeneration will be assessed by atrophy on brain MRI as reflected by regional volumes on Freesurfer. Staff will also evaluate MR neuroimaging markers for neuroinflammation using a newer method called diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI), developed at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis in collaboration with The Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (Knight ADRC).

The goal of this study is to is to focus on the genetic influences on Alzheimer's Disease (AD) risk. The investigators are looking for families and/or individuals (affected or unaffected) of any ethic background (African American, Caucasian, and Hispanics) with a family history of AD and willing to participate.

By doing this study, researchers hope to learn to see if there is relationship between whole egg consumption and brain choline status. Additionally, researchers also plan to see if there is a relationship between brain choline status and cognition.

The goal of this study is to develop a large longitudinal cohort of individuals diagnosed with or at high risk for brain diseases (both neurological and psychiatric in nature), in order to identify risk factors that contribute to neurological and psychiatric diseases over time. The investigators seek to capture relevant information from medical records, electronically administered questionnaires and follow up phone-based interviews. The investigators expect to eventually have sufficient power from our dataset to examine risk factors for a variety of brain disorders, both individually and in aggregate. Our ultimate goal is to offer scientifically validated ways to preserve and promote brain health by working with our patients' needs and tracking their progress over time.

Alzheimer disease is the most common of the neurodegenerative diseases. Epilepsy and sleep wake disorders are co-morbid conditions of Alzheimer disease. The investigators propose a prospective study using long-term EEG monitoring in combination with polysomnography to determine prevalence of epilepsy and sleep wake disorders in Alzheimer disease, and correlate these findings with clinical data, Alzheimer disease biomarkers and imaging studies (MRI and amyloid/tau-PET). In selected patients, the investigators will perform EEG studies with foramen ovale electrodes. The ultimate goal is to improve the outcome of patients with Alzheimer disease by early treatment of epilepsy and restoring sleep-wake disturbances.

Many elderly patients undergoing surgical procedures already have impaired cognitive (memory/concentration) status. Patients with pre-existing cognitive impairment, or dementia, may benefit from modified anesthesia techniques. It is estimated that one in eight people age 65 and older has Alzheimers disease. More so, nearly half of people that are 85 years or older have Alzheimers disease. Currently, both spinal (regional) and inhalational (general) anesthesia, are used in patients undergoing common urological, orthopedic, and general surgical procedures. Inhalational anesthesia has been associated with higher risk of memory impairment in experimental (animal) and human studies. However, currently, there are simply no large or good enough studies to be sure that inhalational anesthesia is responsible for causing dementia and Alzheimers disease.The proposed study investigates if elderly patients (65 years and older) undergoing spinal anesthesia (patient is awake or slightly sedated) are less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimers disease for up to 2 years after surgery, when compared to inhalational anesthesia (patient is kept asleep with gas anesthetic). The investigators will also test all patients for the presence of apolipoprotein (ApoE-Îμ4 type of gene that is present in 15-20% of patients), and beta-amyloid tau protein (present in cerebrospinal fluid) that are known risk factors for Alzheimers disease. The particular strength of this study is that it takes into account whether the frequency and/or severity of dementia and Alzheimers disease is different in patients with and without these markers. The investigators believe that this study will make a major contribution to better understanding of development of Alzheimers disease.

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), neurofibrillary degeneration (NFD) is characterized by the intraneuronal aggregation of Tau proteins. The pathology progresses through a hierarchical pathway that may be associated with the intercellular transmission of pathology as demonstrated in our rat models. This transmission implies that Tau is actively secreted and may participate to the first steps of Tau pathology spreading. It is demonstrated in cell lines and animal models (rodents and non-human primates) that Tau is secreted not only in free forms but also in extracellular vesicles. If Tau is found in biological fluids before neuronal death it may represent an early marker of the NFD and will also define therapeutically targets. In this context, the aim is now to transfer this knowledge in humans and to decipher the nature of Tau secreted in plasma and cerebrospinal fluids collected from healthy controls to AD patients, and to decipher if the presence of tau inside vesicles is influenced by the pathology.

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate a new radioactive compound used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans in identifying tau tangles (a certain protein that might be associated with Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Disease) in the brain, and if the amount of tau tangles in the brain has a relationship to cognitive status. This study involves a PET scans using the radioactive compound, F 18 T807 for measurement of tau deposition. This radioactive compound is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). An MRI may also be conducted.