We are so grateful for the interest of the New York Times in the efforts of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative. Their coverage also means a great deal to Dr. Francisco Lopera, the pioneer who has identified the families afflicted with early-onset Alzheimer’s in Colombia, to Dr. Ken Kosik, who has supported this project throughout, to the families themselves, and to Dr. Adam Fleisher, who is directing the specific imaging project that was covered. At the end of the last trip to Phoenix, William, who was identified in the Times article as having symptomatic Alzheimer’s, stood at our farewell dinner, gestured to the people assembled, and said, “This proves that nothing is impossible.”

We hope to clarify that it is not certain that any of the experimental treatments that we are considering will fail in symptomatic patients. We hope they won't and will look at any available data carefully. The overriding point is that, regardless of which agents are selected, there is a strong and testable scientific rationale to assume that some of them may have a more profound effect when...  Read more

We are so grateful for the interest of the New York Times in the efforts of the Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative. Their coverage also means a great deal to Dr. Francisco Lopera, the pioneer who has identified the families afflicted with early-onset Alzheimer’s in Colombia, to Dr. Ken Kosik, who has supported this project throughout, to the families themselves, and to Dr. Adam Fleisher, who is directing the specific imaging project that was covered. At the end of the last trip to Phoenix, William, who was identified in the Times article as having symptomatic Alzheimer’s, stood at our farewell dinner, gestured to the people assembled, and said, “This proves that nothing is impossible.”

We hope to clarify that it is not certain that any of the experimental treatments that we are considering will fail in symptomatic patients. We hope they won't and will look at any available data carefully. The overriding point is that, regardless of which agents are selected, there is a strong and testable scientific rationale to assume that some of them may have a more profound effect when administered earlier in the course of illness. And, while it would be ideal to start the first treatment trial in late 2012, it could be a bit later, depending on funding, regulatory approval, and so on. Between now and then, we will do whatever it takes to get the design and all requisite conditions right.

View all comments by Jessica Langbaum
View all comments by Eric M. Reiman
View all comments by Pierre Tariot

I am Colombian, and have family near the town of Yarumal. I think even if the treatment fails, many new things will be discovered, so it is worthwhile.

I think Alzheimer’s due to old age is different from the early-onset autosomal-dominant Alzheimer’s disease in Yarumal. There is the possibility that the treatment works, at least partially, but that it won’t necessarily be effective for old age Alzheimer’s, considering that a lot is still unknown about the process of the illness. Still, partial success would be a lot for the people with ADAD.

View all comments by Dina Grutzendler

This is fantastic work, but care should be taken not to conflate the common biomarker changes between the Colombian kindred described above and those at risk for late-onset sporadic AD (ApoE4 carriers). In the paper (Valla et al., 2010, cited above), we presented evidence that young adult ApoE4 carriers do not show any amyloid-related changes (increases in soluble amyloid or increased deposition), even though they show functional changes via glucose PET at that age (Reiman et al., 2004, also cited above) and cytochrome oxidase histochemistry. The "common" changes discussed in this article refer to the PET-measured functional changes, not amyloid levels or amyloid deposition. These "common" changes between familial and sporadic AD may be linked by amyloid, but the current evidence suggests they are not.

View all comments by Jon Valla