Interviews to Begin in Alzheimer’s Study

More than 2,000 Indianapolis blacks over 65 will be interviewed this winter as part of a worldwide study of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers will compare the incidence of Alzheimer’s in Indianapolis with that in Ibadan, Nigeria. Other sites being studied are in Canada, Spain, Chile and Malta.

Kathleen S. Hall, an Indiana University epidemiologist and the project director, said it is hoped the study will improve diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The Indianapolis-Ibadan study is part of the World Health Organization’s four-year “cross-national” investigation.

Starting this month , researchers will randomly interview 2,500 inner-city residents 65 and older. An advisory board already has told the Indianapolis Urban League, private doctors and churches about the survey and has trained people to work as surveyors.

Those chosen to be interviewed will be informed by letter. Twenty-minute interviews will be conducted with people living in houses and nursing homes. Some of those identified as having Alzheimer’s or other dementia disorders will be given more extensive physical and mental examinations.

Another survey will be conducted in two years to note changes.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive condition in which nerve cells in the brain degenerate. It afflicts more than 4 million elderly Americans. Researchers believe both genetic and environmental factors are involved.

“This is a classic epidemiological approach to discovering the cause of the disease,” said Hugh C. Hendrie, chairman of Indiana University’s department of psychiatry and a principal investigator. “It has been used a great deal for studies on cardiovascular disease.”