Event Date: Sep 13, 2017



Related Resources l Recording

12:00 pm EDT - 1:00 pm EDT

There has been a systematic effort over the past few years to get a more accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of late-onset dementia. International guidelines for research diagnostic criteria are now leading to national guidelines for use of biomarkers, such as brain imaging using positron-emission tomography (PET). New ligands (radioactive makers of different brain changes) are being systematically studied across the range of AD (from no symptoms to mild complaints, then measurable memory decline, and then dementia), in order to see if there is a special timing of the disease where drugs acting on amyloid buildup, tau hyperphosphorylation, or neuroinflammation will be more useful.
 
Multiple clinical trials are running in Canada across the range of AD, in order to improve symptoms and/or modify disease progression. Updates on such studies are available on the Alz Soc of Canada web-site.
 
Other causes of dementia are also being studied, in particular fronto-temporal dementia. Special teams of investigators are studying the natural history of this condition (the GENFI study).
 
The largest effort to understand dementia in Canada is the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA). All the key components of AD and related dementias are being studied across the country. We hope that these research will feed into the new Canadian Dementia Plan.

This integrated KTE webinar event is brought to you by brainXchange in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Canadian Consortium of Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA). 

                                

Related Documents:

Presenter(s):

Serge_-Gauthier-picture.jpg
Serge Gauthier, C.M., C.Q., MD, FRCPC
Director, AD Research Unit, MCSA
Chair, ELSI Committee of CCNA

Medical studies at Université de Montréal, Neurology training at McGill University, Research Fellowship at Prof. TL Sourkes laboratory, Allen Memorial Institute, Montreal. Clinical investigator and staff neurologist at the Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute (1976-1986), Director of the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging (1986-1996), Senior Scientist of the CIHR-Rx&D program (1997-2007). Currently Professor in the Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Medicine, at McGill University, and Director of the Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Research Unit of the McGill Center for Studies in Aging, Douglas Hospital. Recipient of the Order of Canada in 2014.

Contributions to research include design and implementation of randomized clinical trials in order to establish the safety and efficacy of cholinesterase inhibitors, muscarinic agonists, and agents possibly modifying progression for Alzheimer’s disease. Special interests include consensus approach to the management of dementia in different stages, the ethics of research involving persons with dementia, and prevention strategies against cognitive decline and dementia.