Biography
Biography: James D. Weinstein
Abstract
Although billions of dollars have been spent for research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), little progress has been made in finding a therapy which stops the progressive dementia characteristic of the disease. Numerous drugs, having failed over years of research, suggest the need for a reevaluation of how the research is now being done. To that end, three changes in current AD research methodology are offered and these changes are absolutely necessary to provide the means to find an effective treatment for the disease. First, AD is a disease of four etiologies rather than from a single primary cause. These four should be treated simultaneously for an effective therapy. Second, AD drug testing is wasting much time effort and money by aiming for a statistical verification of the slowing of dementia. The end point should be the complete cessation of progressive dementia, and testing should begin with small cohorts. Third, combination therapies with drugs currently available, used off label, ought to be tried. One example of such a combination is reviewed.