11.23.11 | Frank Vinluan

N.C. Alzheimer’s study aims to find ways to predict, treat the disease earlier

Duke University is partnering with the North Carolina Research Campus in an expansion of an Alzheimer’s disease study that aims to find new ways to predict and treat the disease.

Research initially began in 2007 to study disease patterns over the long term for patients in the city of Kannapolis, North Carolina, where the N.C. Research Campus is based, as well as surrounding Cabarrus County. Researchers are expanding the “Measurement to Understand the Reclassification of Disease of Cabarrus/Kannapolis” or MURDOCK study to include participants 55 and older who have not been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and live in outlying areas surrounding Cabarrus County.

The MURDOCK data will be combined with data gathered from a similar study by Duke’s Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Durham, North Carolina. Data from the studies will be used to try to understand which factors accelerate or delay the cognitive changes people often experience as they get older. Researchers will also gather data for research into biomarkers that may indicate Alzheimer’s disease in preparation for a long-term study that could support clinical trials studying the disease.

“It’s the only study I’m aware of that is looking at a general population and trying to statistically cover all aspects of the population by looking at things in a genomic and proteomic way,” Dr. Robert Kinney, vice president of education for Carolinas Medical Center-NorthEast in Concord, North Carolina and a member of the MURDOCK Study Healthcare Advisory Board said in a statement. “The value is to find ways to predict disease earlier and treat disease earlier.”

Frank Vinluan

Frank Vinluan is the North Carolina Bureau Chief for MedCity News.

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Tags: Alzheimer's disease, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, North Carolina Research Campus

Comments Post a comment

Just wondering: people for the study will be recruited from the area around the research center. Due to the fact that universities and colleges are retirement magnets for “active retirees” this means the study will be working with study participants who are well-off, white, educated seniors seeking an “active” lifestyle.

Does anyone –besides me — who’s read this news update think this may skew the study’s results?

Just wondering…..

will settle)

Comment by eileen beal — November 24, 2011 @ 11:51 am

No. I see nothing that would impact this NCRC study other than the proclivity of one group over another to exercise more, exercise being the only semi-proven means to delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (maybe). How much one reads, plays the piano, does crossword puzzles, or swallows fish oil…has no proven impact upon Alzheimer’s disease, nor does Aracet other than the first 12-18 months of its use. Lots of baseless theories and wanna-be cures regarding this disease floating around out there. Good trials and tests of major groups, especially if the tests are long enough–years probably–are good to do. Most tests thus far have been too short to come to fruitful conclusions, sadly.

Comment by Barry N. Moore — November 29, 2011 @ 3:19 pm