New evidence, new hope for dementia patients

Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?

It was a beautiful clear Tuesday morning, and there's a good chance you were doing the same thing you did this morning, provided your circumstances haven't changed much in the past 16 years.

In the interim, those who were directly involved in the aftermath have had plenty of time to experience the aftereffects of the trauma, and few groups have provided more fodder for researchers.

One of the latest studies of first responders shows a troubling link between post-traumatic stress disorder and the development of cognitive impairment.

Depression and cognitive impairment are nothing new for first responders and military veterans with head injuries, but the new study, published in a medical journal by Stony Brook University, shows impairment in civilian responders to the terror attacks who did not sustain head injuries.

In 2002, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began monitoring the health of police and firefighters and other officials who helped in the search, rescue and cleanup efforts after the attack.

About 12.8 percent showed cognitive impairment and 1.2 percent showed signs of possible dementia, which extrapolates to between 3,740 and 5,300 responders with cognitive impairment and 240 to 810 who may have dementia.

Identifying the risks gives healthcare providers a chance to provide early treatment, and in the case of Alzheimer's, there's a new drug that may offer a glimmer of hope.

The drug, Aducanumab, is still in the early stages of development and has side effects that have caused a number of test subjects to drop out, but so far, it has been shown to be safe and halts memory decline.

Like other drugs, it targets the buildup of amyloids in brain cells that are common in Alzheimer's patients.

The drug has shown enough promise to go into two larger studies involving 2,700 patients with very early stage Alzheimer's across North America, Europe and Asia to more fully test the drug's effect on cognitive decline.

Both the anniversary of 9/11 and the recent death of Gene Wilder from complications of Alzheimers have put dementia in the spotlight. Let's hope this or another promising drug turns out to be the one to make the difference in this heartbreaking disease.