Eight hundred volunteers from upstate New York are being sought for the first large-scale study ever to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

A team of doctors at the University of Rochester Medial Center is one of four groups nationwide taking part in the Alzheimer's Disease Anti-Inflammatory Prevention Trial, or ADAPT. The seven-year study will follow the development of people age 70 and older who have a relative with the disease but who show no symptoms themselves.

The study seeks to address a tantalizing question: Do common medicines known as cox inhibitors help delay or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease? Several studies have indicated that people who regularly use medications that inhibit enzymes known as cox-1 or cox-2 for several years may be less likely to get the disease. Now the National Institute of Aging seeks to settle the question, investing an initial $25 million for the first five years of the ADAPT study. Besides the University of Rochester, other institutions taking part are Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Boston University, and the Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, Arizona.

"Just 10 years ago there were no treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Now we have a stable of medicines to treat the disease, and already we're talking about prevention," says Pierre Tariot, M.D., director of the university's Geriatric Neurology and Psychiatry Clinic at Monroe Community Hospital, the university's main Alzheimer's treatment site.

"The question is simple: Can we delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease? It's really quite remarkable that we have progressed to the point where we can even ask that question," he said.

Researchers are recruiting a total of nearly 3,000 people, including 800 from upstate New York, to take part in the research study. Physicians will compare the health of people older than 70 who are taking one of three medications: naproxen, a traditional medication that inhibits both the cox-2 and cox-1 enzymes; a more potent cox-2 inhibitor, celecoxib; and a placebo, or pill with no active drug. Both naproxen and celecoxib are commonly used to treat arthritis.

Anyone 70 years of age or older, with a family member who has or had Alzheimer's disease, or typical symptoms such as serious memory loss, is invited to participate. Participants will come to Monroe Community Hospital for medical checkups twice each year and will be interviewed by phone twice more each year. The hospital, located less than a quarter-mile off Interstate 390 in Rochester, has free parking that is readily accessible.

Those interested in possibly volunteering for the research study should call (716) 760-6574 or toll-free 1-866-2-STOP-AD (1-866-278-6723). Additional information is available on the Web at www.2stopad.org.