Dementia Clinical Trials

Vascular dementia trials. Studies testing whether blood pressure, cholesterol, or anti-inflammatory treatments slow decline after stroke or small vessel disease, and imaging studies of how vascular damage and Alzheimer's changes interact.

Lewy body and Parkinson's dementia trials. Medicines for hallucinations, fluctuating alertness, and sleep disturbance, plus early studies of drugs aimed at the alpha synuclein protein that drives both conditions.

Frontotemporal dementia trials. Because FTD often runs in families with known gene mutations, this is where gene targeted treatments are furthest along, alongside natural history studies that track the disease for years.

Prevention and risk reduction studies. Trials in people with risk factors but no dementia: exercise, diet, hearing aids, blood pressure control, cognitive training, and combination programs, often recruiting healthy volunteers over 60.

Diagnosis and biomarker studies. Blood tests, retinal imaging, and digital tools that aim to tell dementia types apart and detect them earlier, often enrolling people with and without symptoms.

Caregiver and care studies. Programs that train and support family caregivers, test care models, and reduce hospitalizations. These enroll the person with dementia, the caregiver, or both, and usually have wide eligibility.

If the diagnosis is Alzheimer's disease specifically, our Alzheimer's clinical trials page and Alzheimer's treatment guide cover the approved medicines and the trials testing what comes next.

What Alzheimer's Treatment Looks Like Today, and Why Timing Matters So Much

Most treatment trials enroll people with a specific dementia type confirmed by a specialist, often with imaging or a blood or spinal fluid test, and at a specific stage, usually mild to moderate. Because people with dementia may not be able to consent for themselves, most studies require a study partner, typically a family member, who attends visits and reports on daily function, and consent may involve a legally authorized representative. Prevention trials enroll people without dementia who have risk factors such as family history, high blood pressure, or mild memory complaints, often aged 60 and older. Caregiver studies enroll the family members themselves. Biomarker and observational studies often accept both people with dementia and healthy volunteers as comparison groups. Eligibility always varies by study.

Alzheimer's disease. Memory loss first, then language and reasoning. The only type with approved disease modifying medicines, and the one most trials target. Studied on its own page.

Vascular dementia. Often stepwise decline after strokes, with slowed thinking and trouble planning more than memory loss early on. Trials focus on vascular risk control and on the overlap with Alzheimer's.

Lewy body dementia. Visual hallucinations, fluctuating attention, acting out dreams during sleep, and Parkinson's like stiffness. Misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's or a psychiatric illness in many cases, which trials of better diagnostic tools aim to fix.

Frontotemporal dementia. Personality, behavior, or language changes, usually between 45 and 65. Often inherited, which makes it the leading target for gene therapies.

Mixed dementia. Two or more causes at once, most often Alzheimer's plus vascular. Increasingly recognized as the most common picture in people over 80, and a growing focus of research.

Study titles name the type, and a diagnosis of "dementia" without a type is usually not enough to enroll. If a specialist has not yet named the type, that evaluation is the first step, and diagnostic studies listed here can sometimes provide it.

Some studies offer compensation for time and travel, for the participant and often for the study partner, and study related care is typically provided at no cost to participants. Compensation varies by trial and is always described during the informed consent process before anyone agrees to anything.

Not with certainty, but risk can be lowered. Large studies estimate that a substantial share of dementia cases are linked to factors that can be changed: controlling blood pressure and diabetes, treating hearing loss, staying physically and socially active, not smoking, and limiting alcohol. Prevention trials testing exactly these approaches are among the studies listed here and often enroll healthy people over 60.

Usually not directly. Most dementia is late onset and shaped by age, vascular health, and many genes with small effects, such as APOE. Frontotemporal dementia is the exception: up to 40 percent of cases run in families, and specific gene mutations are known, which is why gene targeted trials exist for it. A parent with Alzheimer's raises your risk modestly but does not determine it.

Identify your trial. Use the filters and start with the type: study titles say "vascular," "Lewy body," "frontotemporal," or "Alzheimer's," or "prevention" and "caregiver" for the other groups. Match to the diagnosis a specialist has given.

Select your preferred location. Enter your city or state. Treatment trials require regular visits, often with a study partner, so distance matters; many caregiver and prevention studies run partly online.

Explore study details. Click "Learn More" for eligibility, including the required stage, whether imaging or a lumbar puncture is part of screening, and whether a study partner must attend.

Complete the health profile. Click "Get started" to begin the 5-step application. Have three things ready: the type of dementia diagnosed and by whom, the approximate stage and any recent memory testing, and the name of the person who would act as study partner. A family member can complete the application on behalf of the person with dementia.

Submit the application. A clinical trial coordinator reviews it and contacts you. Nothing is decided until informed consent, which in dementia studies includes the participant and, where needed, a legally authorized representative, and participation is voluntary at every step.