There's no cure for this disease, but now there is some hope for people and their families who are battling the illness
"I knew that I couldn't just sit in the corner and cry about it, but I wanted to see if I could get better," said Jerry Bello, a clinical trial patient.
Jerry, holder of two master's degrees, environmental consultant, husband, and father went to be tested for Alzheimer's at the urging of his wife Nadine.
"When I started noticing repetitive things, forgetful things, I said, 'Let's just get you checked out.' And we went to a neurologist, and he tested positive that you know, he did have the gene for dementia, and there was some amyloid plaque building in the brain at the time," said Nadine Bello, Jerry's wife. "So I said, well, what do we do now? I don't want him to get worse. And the neurologist gave us Dr. Papka's name."
Dr. Michelle Papka is the founder of the Cognitive Research Center of New Jersey.
She has been principal investigator on more than 35 recent clinical trials for age-related cognitive impairment.
Last year, Jerry enrolled in a double-blind study of a new drug called Kisunla.
"It's actually the first time in my career of doing clinical trials, which has been over 30 years, that we contributed to putting a drug on the market that now people can get from their doctors, is FDA approved, and helps modify the course of the disease. So it's really, really exciting," Dr. Papka said.
The breakthrough medicine is a monthly infusion shown to break up the plaque in the brain which causes memory loss.
"And one of the things that is being studied right now is if you give these drugs, these anti-amyloid drugs, to people before they actually really have symptoms, but we know that they have these, the beginning of these underpinnings of the disease, and get rid of that amyloid really early. Can we prevent people from developing the disease and the symptoms of the disease altogether?" she said.
"This thing came and said, 'Are you interested in a clinical trial on Alzheimer's?' I said, 'Yes!'" said Connie Hagelin, a patient.
Hagelin wasn't experiencing memory loss, but the former retail VP enrolled in the drug trial when she struggled to juggle life's demands as a wife, mom, and busy grandmother.
"And I noticed that it was just getting harder, more stressful, harder to keep the balls in the air because none of them must drop because they're all pretty important," Hagelin said.
After taking the medication, a routine MRI revealed a brain bleed, a common side effect.
"It didn't freak me out at all," she said. "The drug pulls the amyloids through the blood vessel, they're in the blood vessel, the plaque, it's like plaque on your teeth I think. It pulls the amyloid out and as it does a little tiny bit of blood escapes. So to me, none of this was scary."
Both Hagelin and Jerry said they felt improvements through their clinical trials.
The FDA cleared Eli Lilly's monthly infusions for use by adults with mild cognitive impairment in July after the research showed a promising slowing of decline in memory and thinking abilities. It's being sold under the brand name Kisunla.
"I just had the most clear-mindedness. So definitely, something changed," Hagelin said.
"And it's like these magic doors opened up," Jerry said.
"Do you feel the clinical trials have improved your memory?" Eyewitness News asked.
"Definitely," Jerry said.
"I think that we could be so close to answers. And, more importantly, getting people to come in and be screened," Hagelin said.
"For dozens of families, it's a lot of hope," Jerry said.
"We are well on our way to finding a cure, and every person out there has an opportunity to try to help and to contribute to finding a cure. And we will, we will, because we have to," Dr. Papka said.
Click here for more on the Cognitive and Research Center of New Jersey and click here to learn more about finding a clinical trial with the National Institutes of Health.
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