Alzheimer's disease: Have you signed up as a volunteer?

Within reason
Tatarstan residents were offered a new method of treating mental disorders

Olga Kondreva, Rossiyskaya Gazeta-Nedelya – Volga-Ural, 29.11.2012

Residents of the republic (as well as St. Petersburg, see at the end of the article - VM) have a chance to check their memory for free, and if necessary, also get specialized neurologist help. The Interregional Clinical Diagnostic Center (ICDC) has joined the large-scale international clinical study SCarlet RoAD.

It is held in 22 countries around the world. In Russia, according to the decision of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, only three medical institutions, including the ICDC, are participating in it so far. The purpose of the international clinical trial is to study the effectiveness of a new method of treatment of the initial stage of Alzheimer's disease.

No one is immune from this incurable disease, which in most cases is the cause of senile dementia. The disease spares neither janitors, nor scientists, nor politicians. The list of cases includes former US President Ronald Reagan and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Currently, about one million people in Russia suffer from Alzheimer's disease (about forty thousand of them are residents of Tatarstan), but by 2020, according to experts, the number of such patients will increase by 28 percent. This is primarily due to an increase in life expectancy.

In 85 cases out of a hundred, the causes of the disease are unknown. According to statistics, only 10-15 percent of patients have them due to heredity. Women suffer from the disease three to five times more often than men. As a rule, the first signs of Alzheimer's disease occur after 45-50 years. Often people don't even pay attention to them. After all, many of these signs can be attributed to the natural aging of the body. Memory fails – it doesn't happen to anyone. I became distracted, forgot where I was going and why – work overload affects. Didn't turn off the gas, didn't salt the soup – that's a clumsy! It became difficult to cope with professional duties – I was tired.

Each of us has faced similar situations at least once. Meanwhile, the causes of memory lapses, cognitive decline can be very different: from age-related changes and depression to vascular disorders. But it is possible that all this is nothing but the first manifestations of Alzheimer's disease. If you do not consult a doctor in time, the consequences will be very sad. In just five years, a person can completely lose his mind. This happens in 70 percent of cases.

– Unfortunately, today there are no methods of treating Alzheimer's disease, – says the Deputy Director General of the ICDC – head of the republican head vascular center, Professor Dina Khasanova. – Alzheimer's disease causes the death of the nervous tissue of certain parts of the brain that are responsible for cognitive functions. The reason is the deposition of amyloid – a pathological protein. It is necessary to suspend this process, slow down the transition from moderate manifestations of the disease (memory loss, disorientation in space, etc.) to complete dementia. A search is underway for drugs that could slow down the loss of intelligence in a patient at the initial stage of Alzheimer's disease. International clinical trials of a number of such drugs are already underway.

According to her, within the framework of the Scarlet RoAD project, patients who have a confirmed diagnosis will be subcutaneously injected with antibodies binding to amyloid. Moreover, this injection will be given to them more than once. All this time they will be under the constant supervision of doctors. For patients, this is a unique chance to delay the development of dementia, which leads to a complete disintegration of personality.

There are at least two questions: how do I find out that memory disorders in humans are caused by Alzheimer's disease and how safe is it for residents of the republic to participate in such a study?

Specialists of the ICDC, which is rightfully considered one of the leading Russian centers for the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases, will help to understand the causes of memory disorders in people over 50 years old. Project participants will be able to undergo a thorough examination for free, including not only biochemical analyses, ECG, testing, but also tomography. Only then will the issue of their participation in the study be resolved.

Those who are not diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease will be offered other options for help. Depending on what causes the disorders of cognitive function, they will be sent either for treatment to a doctor at their place of residence, or they will be taken under the supervision of the only memory cabinet in the republic in the ICDC. This is a rather unique division of the center, where the most advanced technologies are used to treat forgetful people.

Patients who are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease will be able to participate in the project. All clinical trials are carefully monitored by various international organizations. In Russia, they are possible only with the permission of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Experts say that the drug that will be administered to patients meets international safety requirements, it has successfully passed all preliminary studies, has been tested on animals and volunteers. Otherwise, there would be no question of any injections to patients. The progress of each patient will be monitored by medical researchers.

In accordance with the legislation, all participants of the Scarlet RoAD international clinical trial will be insured.

To agree or not to the examination and treatment, everyone decides for himself. This is a purely voluntary matter. Even if a person has given written consent to conduct research, he can refuse at any time and declare withdrawal from the project.

ImportantYou can participate in the study if:

• your age is 50-85 years old;
• over the past year, you or someone around you have noticed a gradual decline in your memory;
• you are not currently taking any medications due to dementia or Alzheimer's disease;
• do you have a friend or relative who can tell you how you are coping with your daily work, and if necessary, is ready to provide this information to the clinic;
• you want to take part in a study that will last two years and five months and will include visits to the ICDC at least once a month during this time.

CONTACT
Interregional Clinical and Diagnostic Center Kazan, Karbysheva str., 12a
To learn how to participate in the study, contact a specialist of the research group by phone: 8-906-115-97-04

Additional information from the Scarlet RoAD websiteContact the center whose location is most convenient for you.

St. Petersburg State Healthcare Institution "City Geriatric Medical and Social Center", Department of Gerontopsychiatry

148 Fontanka River Embankment, Saint Petersburg, 190103, Russia
contact person: Sofia Fedorovna Sluchevskaya
Contact phone: 8 (951) 679-66-58

Federal State Military Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov" of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Department of Nervous Diseases
Russia, 194044, St. Petersburg, Lesnoy ave., 2, office 61
Contact person: Andrey Yuryevich Emelin
contact phone: 8 (953) 357-05-67