More Minority Patients Reported Needed for Alzheimer Studies

Recruitment of more minority patients for clinical trials should be a priority of Alzheimer research, according to Dr. Jacobo Mintzer, director of Alzheimer's research clinical programs at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Little data exists on Alzheimer's disease patients from minority groups so little progress has been made in the determination of which groups are genetically more prone to getting the disease, according to Mintzer.

In South Carolina, 30 percent of the population is black and all nonwhites comprise about 16 percent of people over age 65. Most patients in local and national studies of Alzheimer's disease are white, Mintzer said.

A panel of eight physicians, convened by the American Psychiatric Association in December 2001 at the National Institutes of Health, reports that it is critically important to determine how different genetic makeups affect treatment and the safety of medications.

One area needing more research is finding the three genes linked with early onset Alzheimer's disease. The genes have been found only in whites and Asians but not in blacks or Hispanics.

A study currently taking place at the Medical University of South Carolina is analyzing what influences keep minorities from taking part in medical studies.

Other sources: AP