Leading the Way
The Alzheimer’s clinical trial
team with their patient, Judi.
West Virginia’s Battle Against Chronic Diseases
BLAIR DOWLER
WVU MEDICINE
Promising Progress Against Alzheimer’s
Around the world, countless people are affected by chronic
pain and degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s on a
daily basis. In West Virginia, a world-class team of researchers,
scientists and physicians from across the globe have come together
at the West Virginia University (WVU) Rockefeller
ExEdge Neuroscience Institute (RNI) to investigate the
causes of these crippling health problems and
Alzheimer’s is
search for cures.
not just an old-
Under the direction of Dr. Ali Rezai, RNI’s
age disease.
director and a leading neurosurgeon, progress
Approximately
200,000 is being made in the battle for new treatments for
Americans these debilitating diagnoses. The recent phase II
under the age
trial of a new treatment for early-stage Alzheimer’s
of 65 have
and the launch of a clinical trial of a non-opioid
early-onset
Alzheimer’s.
micropellet implant for chronic pain are just two
examples of how Rezai and his team are creating
Source:
hope not only for West Virginians but people
www.alz.org
suffering all around the world.
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million
Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, 37,000 of which
are West Virginians. That number continues to grow every day
at a terrifying rate—it is estimated that someone is diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s every 60 seconds.
“Despite these staggering numbers, sadly there is no cure,” says
Rezai. “And despite more than 500 clinical trials and billions
of dollars spent, there have been no effective treatments. Many
other drugs and efforts have failed, and as a result, we need
to explore all possible opportunities for new technologies.”
One of those opportunities came in the form of a phase
II trial for an Alzheimer’s treatment that uses a new form of
technology provided by INSIGHTEC, an Israeli medical device
company. The new treatment, which involves an incisionless
surgery that does not require pharmaceuticals, uses focused
ultrasound treatment to disrupt the blood-brain barrier in
regions of the brain like the hippocampus that are directly
affected by this degenerative disease.