Trials can offer hope for Alzheimer's patients

Five years ago, Don, then 73, started losing his memory. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

“Well, I’m not really doing the things that I really should do, but I can’t help it,” Don Anderson said.

Since her husband's diagnosis, Jan Anderson has been looking for clinical trials.

“It’s a good way to help other people – through trials – and also see if it will help him,” she said.

The medical care offered through trials comes with great potential benefits, including working with experts in the field.

“They get a lot of TLC when they're treated. And it's important to know that all of that medical care they get, there's no charge,” Watral said.

Watral has found a trial that begins in January that may suit the Andersons.

It has renewed their hope.

“He said right after he really came down with the disease, he said, ‘I know they're going to find something to help me. I just know they are,’” Jan Anderson said.