Understanding Alzheimer's Disease: Diagnosis, Progression, and Challenges

There are an estimated 650,000 cases of dementia in Canada right now. The last 20 years of research into the treatment of Alzheimer’s have been, as one expert put it, “agonizing.” But a new drug was approved in the United States and is being tested in Canada to see if it can delay or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s symptoms. And it’s giving researchers and patients some hope that a breakthrough could be on the way.

Kelly Grant, health reporter for The Globe, has been looking at this drug more closely. She’s on the show today to tell us what these trials mean for patients and the future of Alzheimer’s research.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com