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Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
Seeking Volunteers for Clinical Research Studies
Research is vital to unlocking the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders. Without the active participation of patients and healthy older persons, research into these disabling diseases cannot proceed. Therefore, we at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center are seeking volunteers who are willing to participate in memory-related research studies. We are currently recruiting both people with memory problems and people without memory problems.
Our clinic is located at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Seattle neighborhood of Beacon Hill. All members of the public are eligible to participate and participation is at no cost. Some studies provide reimbursement for travel and time.
Many drug studies are called "double-blind, placebo-controlled" studies. These terms mean that participants may receive either the medication that is being studied or a placebo, which is a pill that looks the same as the medication but contains no medication or active ingredients. During the study, neither the research participant nor the study staff knows whether the research participant is taking the medication or placebo. In some studies, research participants may be offered a free trial of the medication after the study has finished. The details about all of these studies are available at the University of Washington’s Web site for research volunteers seeking studies: http://www.washington.edu/healthresearch/
OR for more information about any of these studies, you can also call our research center at: 206-764-2069 or 1-800-317-5382
Studies for which we are currently enrolling research volunteers:
Study of possible Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarkers
Today, the only certain method of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease is to wait until a person has died and then examine part of their brain under a microscope. Biomarkers may help us identify Alzheimer’s disease much earlier. Biomarkers may help doctors see how different medications affect specific Alzheimer’s disease patients and may be useful to help tailor treatment to individual patients. Knowledge about biomarkers may help us to develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease or to discover the cause of Alzheimer’s disease.
Our search for biomarkers begins with a procedure known as a lumbar puncture (or spinal tap), which takes about an hour. In this procedure, one of our doctors draws a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid from a research participant. After the lumbar puncture, the body naturally replaces the missing cerebrospinal fluid within 3 to 4 hours.
Using these methods, we hope to identify new biomarkers that may help unlock the mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease.
Participation in this study consists of two research visits per year. Persons with and without Alzheimer’s disease or memory problems are eligible.
A study of the medication prazosin in the treatment of
difficult behaviors experienced by
some persons with Alzheimer’s disease
Some people with Alzheimer’s disease restlessly pace and become overly anxious. They may become uncooperative and resistant to care; they may even strike out or show other angry behaviors. Our previous research has found that a medication called prazosin may be able to calm these behaviors. Prazosin is available by prescription to treat high blood pressure, but is considered experimental for the purpose of treating agitation. The medication is not as sedating as other medications that are prescribed for agitation, and a person can remain on most other medications while taking prazosin.
In this study, we are seeking to test the effectiveness of prazosin in treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. We are enrolling people with AD or related disorders that live at home and are available for a 10-week study which includes two clinic visits and telephone follow-up between the two clinic visits. Participants will receive either prazosin or a placebo. At the end of the eight-week study, our research doctors will be happy to consult with the participant’s regular doctor to provide individually tailored treatment recommendations based upon how the participant responded during the study.
adrcweb@u.washington.edu
Please remember that we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any information sent by email.
UW ADRC Director--Murray Raskind, M.D.
UW ADRC Education and Training Director--James Leverenz, M.D.
Last Modified: Friday, 16-Jan-2009 16:14:07 PST