Previous studies of animals and humans suggest DHEA improves memory and enhances the brain's ability to recover from certain types of damage, he said. Neither the participant nor the physician will know which medication was given until the study ends and the results are tabulated. The study will be conducted on the UCSF Parnassus campus and at Goldman Institute on Aging at 3330 Geary Blvd., S.F., during the course of eight months. Participants will be seen four times. If needed, individuals may be seen in their homes or nursing facilities, or transportation may be provided.
Recruitment is also underway for a second clinical study.
We want participants who do not have Alzheimer's disease as well as those that do have it. The purpose of the study, he said, is to look at changes in memory and to measure natural DHEA and other hormone levels over time to see if there is a connection between changing hormone levels and cognition. Since this is a naturalistic study, no drug treatments will be given. The study offers free psychological and neurological evaluations as well as brain scanning. In this study, too, evaluations may be performed either at UCSF or in the participant's residence.