A small pilot study found that the drug helped slow and even reverse the effects of Alzheimer's in a significant percentage of those tested.īut the drug wasn't on the market yet. Newport's research yielded an interesting discovery: a patent for a drug whose main ingredient was medium chain triglycerides (MCT), the same ingredient found in large quantities in coconut oil. She continued her online research, while also looking for new medical trials for Steve.ĭr. Her heart sank, however, when Steve scored just 12 out of 30 he needed to score 16 to be accepted.

When a pharmaceutical company agreed to consider Steve for a clinical trial of a vaccine, she took him to the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute at the University of South Florida to be screened for the study and prayed that he would score in the mild-to-moderate range for Alzheimer's symptoms because the company didn't want anyone whose symptoms were so severe that there was little chance of improvement. Newport began scouring the Internet for possible remedies and, at the same time, began trying to enroll Steve in clinical trials for some of the next-generation experimental drugs. The commercially available medications didn't help. Newport knew she had to try whatever was out there. It was 2003, and while researchers were working feverishly to develop effective Alzheimer's treatments, progress was slow. Newport that Steve, at just 53, was developing early onset Alzheimer's, a fact confirmed by testing. Then, he couldn't explain passages he'd read. “After awhile, he couldn't even turn one on.” Mary Newport, the medical director of the newborn intensive care unit at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Hernando County. “At one time, he could practically take apart a computer,” said his wife, Dr. And although he was a whiz with technology, he found that he couldn't operate a simple calculator, let alone a computer. The first sign of trouble for Steve Newport was confusion.Īn accountant by trade, he suddenly began to struggle even with basic math.

Alzheimer's Disease by Mary T. Newport