Alzheimer’s research advancing with treatments and prevention, as more than 122,000 Missourians battle disease
Meghan Drakas
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
One MU Health Care neurologist says research on Alzheimer’s disease treatments and prevention has rapidly accelerated in the last few years. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 7 million Americans are battling this disease, which includes more than 122,300 Missourians.
“We had a good 15 to 20 years of nothing,” Dr. David Beversdorf said. “We’ve been trained by repeated failures to be a little cautious.”
Beversdorf has studied cognitive and behavioral neurology and also works with adults with autism. He says Alzheimer’s is a core feature of one of the things he deals with in his line of work.
“Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia,” Beversdorf said. “Dementia is a clinical diagnosis where you have a cognitive difficulty in more than one area…that [causes] difficulties with handling your daily activities.”
It’s a disease Mid-Missouri resident and Columbia Walk to End Alzheimer’s Committee Member, Valorie Livingston, knows all too well.
Valorie Livingston with her family at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s (Credit: Valorie Livingston)
“There’s so much anxiety and depression and sadness that comes with this disease,” Livingston said. “Nobody ever sits you down and prepares you [for] that one day, you might have to make these kinds of decisions about your mom and dad and you have an extreme amount of guilt about making these decisions.”
Livingston said around 2015, her family noticed her father was having some challenges with remembering things and was becoming less active. After some testing, the family discovered what was wrong.
“He was actually diagnosed with Parkinson’s [and] Alzheimer’s, so sadly he lost his cognitive skills at the same time that he lost his physical skills,” Livingston said.
She said her father died in 2019 and during that four-year journey, “there were so many situations…I had never dreamed about being in and having to make such difficult decisions.”
Livingston says she was raised on watching sports every Sunday with her dad. Her parents were married for 55 years and when her father died, she says it took a toll on her mother.
Valorie Livingston’s parents holding hands. The two were married for 55 years. (Credit: Valorie Livingston)
“Experiencing all those changes, she declined quickly,” Livingston said. “Then, with her dementia, because of the chaos and the disorganization of her lifestyle, all of a sudden, really, the confusion spiraled her down the same path.”
Livingston said her mother died a few years after her father in 2021.
“She’s from the generation [where] you just get out there and you do whatever you have to do to take care of everything and everyone around you,” Livingston said. “She was the sweetest, kindest, most hardworking mom I could ever imagine.”
FDA approved treatments
Beversdorf says research on Alzheimer’s disease is a complicated but rapidly moving field.
“We’re getting into a stage where we can identify the pathological features of Alzheimer’s before someone has dementia,” Beversdorf said. “You can now have the biomarkers prior to any emergence of a cognitive decline. It’s very complicated now.”
Since 2021, three drugs have been given FDA approval for treatment of the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Aducanumab received the first accelerated approval, but was later discontinued in 2024.
Lecanemab was given traditional FDA approval in 2023, followed by Donanemab in 2024. Both of these treatments are focused on addressing the “underlying biology” of the disease.
With these two FDA-approved treatments, Beversdorf says there’s a significant cost, along with additional testing and monitoring. He mentioned an individual also needs to be in the fairly early stages of the disease because it doesn’t tend to help people who are further along.
“It’s a complicated thing,” Beversdorf said. “Not everybody fits the bill.”
He mentioned a good candidate for the drug can’t have evidence of prior bleeding in their brain.
“That’s a no-go because that places you at [a] much greater risk of bleeding,” Beversdorf said. “So it’s become a very complicated space to navigate.”
He says he could thinks there could be additional treatments that the FDA approves in the next five years.
“I would cautiously say yes,” Beversdorf said. “I say that because there’s a lot of things in the pipeline.”
Prevention measures
Along with additional research for treatments, individuals can seek gene testing for possible earlier detection for the disease.
Certain lifestyle choices could also lessen the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, including diet and exercise.
“We actually wrote an article on that two years ago, and we just submitted an updated version of that,” Beversdorf said. “The most effective things are anything to reduce your cardiovascular risk. [It] also reduces your Alzheimer’s risk.”
He said the Mediterranean, Mind and Dash diets and consuming omega-3 fatty acids can also help decrease your risk.
Beversdorf says recent data in the last few months has also shown a connection between Alzheimer’s disease and hearing loss.
“It shows we’ve known for several years that people who have hearing impairment have an increased risk of developing dementia,” Beversdorf said. “Recently, there’s data suggesting that mitigating that with hearing aids helps and so it does make a huge difference…they think it may be part of sensory deprivation and loss of the social and mental activities that you can’t participate in, in the same way because you can’t hear.”
Livingston says she’s been paying attention to the research on prevention and is working to improve her lifestyle.
“This year [I] joined a gym and started weightlifting for the first time ever, because I am now focusing on eating healthy, taking better care of myself and my muscle tone,” Livingston said. “[I’m] trying to be stronger and be more fit in hopes that it’s going to extend my whole body overall.”
Livingston says with more data and research, she’s hopeful for the future.
“I’m hoping for research and for a cure because I have it on both bloodlines for me,” Livingston said
How to support the cause
Join ABC 17 News at the Columbia Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Saturday at Stankowski Field on the University of Missouri’s campus. This year, the walk goal is set at $160,000. As of Friday, the walk had raised more than $126,000.
Resources
The Alzheimer’s Association has a free 24/7 hotline (1-800-272-3900) which offers resources, support, assistance and information for anyone affected by Alzheimer’s including patients, caregivers and family members.