Bloomberg Businessweek - Drugmakers Are Testing Ways to Stop Alzheimer’s Before It Starts Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. Every two weeks she drives several hours round trip to Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston for trial-related infusions, hoping her future has a better chance than other women in her family. Her grandmother, grandmother’s sister, mother and an aunt all died from Alzheimer’s.
Despite the hassle of traveling for all the treatments, “if it prevents me from losing my brain, it would be totally worth it,” she says.
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. Twice a week she drives to Boston hoping her future has a better chance than other women in her family, North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, holds memories at home of her aunt, grandmother and mother (from right to left) North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She remembers her mother who passed away from Alzheimer's, while looking through the cloth hanging on the door, North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She remembers her mother who passed away from Alzheimer's disease while holding her photo. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She lays in her room on a blanket that used to belong to her mom. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She lays in her room on a blanket that used to belong to her mom. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. Twice a week she drives to Boston hoping her future has a better chance than other women in her family, North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, holds memories at home of her aunt, grandmother and mother (from right to left) North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She remembers her mother who passed away from Alzheimer's, while looking through the cloth hanging on the door, North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She remembers her mother who passed away from Alzheimer's disease while holding her photo. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She lays in her room on a blanket that used to belong to her mom. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
NORTH BERWICK, ME - DECEMBER 19TH: Astrida Schaeffer, 59, is undergoing a trial for a promising preventative Alzheimer's drug. She lays in her room on a blanket that used to belong to her mom. North Berwick, Maine on December 19th, 2022. (Photo by Sofia Aldinio for Bloomberg) North Berwick United States
Sofia Aldinio Visual Storyteller
Sofia Aldinio is an Argentine-American documentary photographer and multimedia storyteller.