adni2

ADNI 2
adni 2 stands for
alzheimers disease neuroimaging inititative phase 2
its a mulicenter study on alzheimers
mainly funded by the stimulus package from 3-4 years ago
its the 2nd phase of this study
it will last for 5 years but if funding is present will be continued

it is considered the most important study on alzheimers that
has ever been done
important research information is being written on results of
this study almost on a weekly basis

in this study there are 4 categories of study subjects

-normal controls-i tried to enter as a normal subject but it
was found i had some short term memory deficits so i was
placed in the next category

-early mild cognitive impairment-these subjects are real early
in the process
many like me have very subtle symptoms not
noticed by others
many are still working their jobs
none are pilots or doctors or air traffic controllers who are still
working though

although real early many of us are already on aricept (donepezil)
which can slow the symptoms of alzheimers but will not stop the
progress of the disease
some times starting the meds now at this stage will delay the onset
of the disease sometimes as much as 5 years

-mild cognitive impairment-these subjects have less subtle findings
some which are obvious to friends and relatives

-alzheimers disease-these patients have all the signs and symptoms
of alzheimers

if the new medicine crenezumab thats being tried on the large family who
carry the early onset alzheimers gene in columbia works then that medicine
could be started
one day on normal subjects who will get the disease or
those of us in the early mild cognitive impairment group

the disease would be stopped or slowed down significantly
we are a few years away though from knowing if that will work
sadly for me since i  carry the apoe 4 genotype double gene
these meds may not work as well on me

today the tests i will have are
a general interview with my wife by the research coordinator to make sure
i am not having any new problems

a large number of vials of blood sent for muliple screening labs like
thyroid liver function test cbc etc and tests for proteins in the blood
that have been associated with alzheimers disease

eventually these blood tests will be available to everyone so that you
can be screened to see if you have a chance of getting alzheimers
it may be 90+% accurate

then next i have the test i dread the most the
2+ hour neuropsychological exam
the torture test
its frustrating because i know that i will have problems with parts of the
tests and cant do anything about it

then i have a mri of the brain
its looking for brain shrinkage and for subtle changes in the size of
the hippocampal area of the brain-the area where all this crap
starts

then i get a one year reprieve and go to annual visits
next year i will have all these tests done plus  a spinal test for
amyloid and tau protein  a fdg glucose metabolism pet scan and
a amyloid pet scan (thats like the new amyvid test thats now available)

is it worth doing this
yes it is even though i dont ever get the results
this research study the adni 2 study may help me one day but
will definitely help my kids or your kids or our grandkids
so
its worth it

the organicgreen doctor