An Argument for Simple Tests of Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Article Commentary

Authors: Daly, Timothy^{a; *} | Mastroleo, Ignacio^b | Henry, Vincent^c | Bourdenx, Mathieu^{d; e; 1}

Affiliations: [a] Science Norms Democracy, UMR 8011 Sorbonne University, Paris, France | [b] National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and Programa de Bioetica, Buenos Aires, Argentina | [c] Inria Paris, Aramis Project Team, Paris, France | [d] Institute des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR 5293, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France | [e] Institute des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR 5293, CNRS, Bordeaux, France

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Dr. Timothy Daly, Science Norms Demo-cracy, Philosophy Department, Faculty of Letters, Sorbonne Université, Paris 75005, France. E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] Present address: UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, University College London, London, UK

Abstract: Two potential disease-modifying approaches for dementia are being vigorously tested: the early targeting of the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multi-domain lifestyle interventions to promote resilience to neuropathology. We apply the “web of information” model of clinical translation to both approaches to argue firstly that tests of treatments aiming to achieve clinically meaningful outcomes should remain simple, and secondly, that building clinically-meaningful treatments should be kept separate from public health policy which means promoting wide-reaching action against risk factors now with available information.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, clinical trials, dementia, innovation, public health, treatment

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215492

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 86, no. 1, pp. 49-52, 2022