You probably know someone whose family has been touched by Alzheimer's. Maybe a parent, a grandparent, a neighbor. For years, the frustrating truth has been that treatment options are limited and new drugs arrive very slowly.
That is the problem a new British trial is trying to solve. The AD-SMART study was launched in October 2026 by Alzheimer's Research UK and the UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London.
It will test two already approved medicines in people with Alzheimer's at the same time. One is metformin, a common drug for type 2 diabetes. The other is atomoxetine, a medicine used to treat ADHD.
Two familiar drugs that may calm the brain
Both medicines have been around for years, and doctors already know how safe they are. Researchers think they may slow Alzheimer's by easing inflammation in the brain, a process that drives the loss of brain cells.
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Atomoxetine raises levels of a brain chemical called noradrenaline, and early research suggests it may help protect nerve cells. Metformin affects how cells produce energy and may act on some of the same pathways in the brain.
Neither drug is approved to treat Alzheimer's. They will only be given inside the trial. Researchers are testing whether they can ease symptoms like memory loss and help people maintain quality of life as the disease progresses.
A trial design that could cut years off the search
Traditional Alzheimer's trials usually test one drug at a time against a placebo group. Running two drugs that way often takes about eight years in total.
AD-SMART works differently. Several medicines are tested at once, each measured against a single shared placebo group. Drugs that are not helping can be dropped early, and new candidates can be added in.
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"The way AD-SMART is set up means we're testing several treatments at the same time, and those that don't show promise can be quickly stopped," said Professor Paresh Malhotra. He is chief investigator at the UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London.
The organizers say this design could more than halve the time it normally takes to evaluate a treatment. First results from the metformin and atomoxetine arms are expected by around 2030.
What it means for American families
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, and the scale of the problem in the US is large. According to the Alzheimer's Association, an estimated 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's in 2026.
The trial is being run across the UK, with around 1,200 participants being recruited at more than 30 NHS sites. People living in the US cannot join, but any treatment that proves safe and effective can be reviewed for use by regulators like the FDA afterward.
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Anyone worried about memory changes in themselves or a family member should talk to a doctor. The next AD-SMART update is expected as more NHS sites open over the next 12 to 18 months.
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This article is made and published by Aksel Kryhlmand, who may have used AI in the preparation.