[Source: New York Times] – Much of the research on Alzheimer’s next year will be about going back in time, trying to determine when and how the brain begins to deteriorate.
Scientists now know Alzheimer’s attacks the brain long before people exhibit memory loss or cognitive decline. But the specifics are crucial because so far, drug after drug has failed to effectively treat Alzheimer’s in people who already show symptoms. Many scientists now think the problem may be that the drugs were given too late, when, as Dr. John C. Morris, an Alzheimer’s expert at Washington University in St. Louis, puts it, “there’s a heck of a lot of brain cell damage and we’re trying to treat a very damaged brain.”
For more information: For Edge on Alzheimer’s, Testing Early Treatments