Alzheimer's Disease

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a brain disorder that develops over a period of years and often starts with short-term memory impairment. Initially, people experience memory loss, and may eventually develop difficulties with decision-making, language processing and production, and recognizing family and friends. They may gradually develop behavior and personality changes. Many of these impairments and losses are related to the death of brain cells called neurons. AD is one type of disease in a group of disorders called dementias that are characterized by cognitive and behavioral problems. AD is by far the most common form of dementia, being the cause of approximately 75% of dementia cases either by itself or in combination with other disorders. The overall prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in the community is estimated at about 10% in population-based studies. Alzheimer’s disease becomes more prevalent with age, with most cases being diagnosed after the age of 65. For more information, please view Dr. Stern's lecture on AD bellow, and visit our AD FAQ page.

Check out a recent article from BU Today HERE

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Message from Dr. Stern: As the Clinical Core Director of the NIA-funded BU AD & CTE Center, I oversee clinical research on AD and related disorders at the center, including serving as the site PI on several multi-center NIH- and industry-sponsored clinical trials.  I am a member of the Steering Committee of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) and I was one of six site-PI’s of the first primary prevention study of AD, the Alzheimer’s Disease Anti-inflammatory Prevention Trial (ADAPT).  I also serve as a consultant to several individual biotech and pharmaceutical companies, as well as the Critical Path Institute, regarding assessment and diagnostic issues in clinical trials. I've written about the use of neuropsychological tests for the differential diagnosis of AD, MCI, normal cognitive aging, and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as for the prediction of cognitive decline and conversion from MCI to dementia. I have received Alzheimer’s Association funding for an assessment of driving safety in individuals with MCI and dementia. More recently, I've been a co-investigator or senior investigator on studies using innovative methods of detecting AD, including the quantification of retinal blood flow and the measurement of the pancreatic peptide, amylin, in plasma.