By MANSUR SHAHEEN DEPUTY HEALTH EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
UPDATED: 12:16 EDT, 3 April 2023
America’s leading medical research agency is launching a largest-of-its-kind $300 million database with hopes of learning more about Alzheimer’s.
The National Institute of Aging (NIA), an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), hopes to launch the initiative as early as April 2024, which will include medical records, insurance claims, pharmacy information and more from 70 to 90 percent of Americans.
Scientists at the NIH hope the collection of data will allow them to gain a greater understanding of the risk factors of the disease, its earliest signs and how patients are reacting to treatments.
The devastating disease is the sixth leading killer of Americans, responsible for more than 100,000 annual deaths. An estimated 7 million people in the US and 900,000 in the UK are suffering from it. These figures may double by 2030, experts fear.
But, scientists are hopeful they can get ahead of it, with budding research showing signs of Alzheimer’s are detectable as early as childhood.
The NIA, a part of the NIH, will launch a massive database that will include information from somewhere between 70 to 90 percent of Americans in hopes of better figuring out what puts someone at risk of developing Alzheimer’s (file photo)
‘Real-world data is what we need to make a lot of decisions about the effectiveness of medications and looking really at a much broader population than most clinical trials can cover,’ Dr Nina Silverberg, director of the NIA’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers program, said in an interview.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 10 percent of Americans 65 or older suffer from the disease, or around 6 million.
Experts fear that number will surge to 12 million by 2030 as people begin to live longer and primary risk factors such as poor diet and exercise habits are more common.
Nearly all diagnosed cases are among the elderly, but estimates suggest one in every 1,000 Americans between 30 and 64 are suffering from it.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s emerge decades before a formal diagnosis can be made, though.
In many cases, someone will start to experience forgetfulness and problems completing basic tasks in their 30s and 40s — a sign of things to come.
British researchers found last month that children who suffer frequent nightmares could be more likely to suffer the disease.
With the new database, the NIA hopes the trove of data could help scientists identify other trends that emerge earlier in life and eventually lead to Alzheimer’s.
They hope to expand the number of behavioral factors that could spur a diagnosis in the future.
Current known behavior risks include a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet with a lot of refined sugar and processed foods and being obese.
Doing so would not only better inform the public as to the risks of the disease but also assist in medical trials for drugs to both prevent and treat it.
Being able to identify people who are already at risk for Alzheimer’s early can allow for drug trials for medication that stops the disease’s development.
Cases could also be detected earlier, allowing for more research into medications that can slow the disease in its earliest stages.
Options for treating Alzheimer’s are fairly scarce. At the start of this year, the Food and Drug Administration approved lecenemab, sold under the brand name Leqembi, for people suffering from the disease’s earliest stages.
The drug was developed by the Japanese firm Eisai. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based pharma giant Biogen is assisting in the drug’s marketing.
In clinical trials, Leqembi showed the ability to slow the devastating cognitive decline associated with the disease around 27 percent.
While promising, it is among little competition and is only available to the 1.5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s who are still in the disease’s earliest stages.
The actual causes of Alzheimer’s are not well understood by doctors, either.
The NIH writes that it is likely a ‘combination of age-related changes in the brain, along with genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.’
Many believe it could arise as a result of amyloid beta plaques forming on the surface of the brain, but why they form and how to prevent them is a puzzle scientists have yet to solve.
There is also a genetic component at play. Thor star Chris Hemsworth recently stepped away from acting after a genetic test determined he had a profile that increased his risk of suffering the disease 15-fold.
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