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TREAD: Time Restricted Eating Intervention for Alzheimer's Disease

University of California, San Diego · with National Institute on Aging (NIA) · NCT06548191

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 60+ · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Phase 1
Target enrollment
60
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
April 23, 2025
Record last updated
May 26, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if restricting the time of eating to allow for prolonged fasting at night may reduce sleep disturbances, cognitive decay, and pathology in patients diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). It will also learn about the feasibility of practicing 14 h of nightly fasting in this group of older adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does prolonged nightly fasting of 14 h can reduce markers of AD pathology and aging and reduce cognitive and sleep alterations in MCI and AD patients?
  • Can patients with MCI and early /moderate AD sustain time-restricted eating for 3 to 6 months? Researchers will compare participants who fast for 14 h per night during 3 months to those who fast for less than 12 h/night. Researchers will also compare participants that fast for 3 months to those who fast during 6 months, to determine the effective duration of the intervention. Finally, researchers will evaluate whether following the time-restricted eating diet alongside a partner actively following the same diet, will increase adherence to the protocol compared to subjects that fast alone.

Participants will

  • Fast for 14 h a night (stop eating at 8 pm and start eating the following morning at 10 am) for 3 or 6 months
  • Visit the clinic three times (at the beginning of the study, 6 and 12 months later)
  • Provide blood samples and take a cognitive test during clinic visits
  • Keep a diary (or use an app on a smart phone) to record time of eating
  • Wear an activity tracker watch

Being studied: Time-restricted eating

Conditions: Mild Cognitive Impairment; Alzheimer Disease; Alzheimer's Disease

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Provision of signed and dated informed consent form. Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study.

Inclusion criteria

  • Persons, aged ≥60 years
  • In good general health as evidenced by medical history or diagnosed with clinical diagnosis of MCI/AD: meeting research consensus criteria for probable MCI or dementia due to AD, requiring positive amyloid biomarkers in brain or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained at their regular point of care or study referral no longer than 3 months prior to screening.
  • Ability and willingness to complete cognitive evaluations, blood draw, actigraphy monitoring and to record fasting times daily.
  • Daily night fasting \<12h at baseline. Ability and willingness to follow an eating protocol of prolonged night fasting for 14 h
  • For cognitively normal living partners in the dyads group, scores >26 in the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test administered at screening.

Exclusion Criteria

  • Clinical diagnosis with a neurodegenerative condition other than MCI/AD.
  • Presenting cognitive impairment not due to AD.
  • Clinical diagnoses of diabetes.
  • Actively using insulin in the past 6 months.
  • Started a new medication (or changed doses) indicated for the treatment of MCI/AD in the last three months prior to enrollment.
  • Currently taking any medication known to affect appetite, inlcuding but not limited to GLP-1 agonists.
  • Any history of disordered eating, including difficulty swallowing and refusal to eat.
  • Currently engaged in shift work.
  • In treatment with another investigational drug.
  • Body Mass Index (BMI) \<20. or >35

Recruiting US locations

  • Shiley Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Center

    San Diego, CA 92093

    Site contact: Paula Desplats · TREAD@health.ucsd.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Paula Desplats, PhD · 858-534-4839 · pdesplat@health.ucsd.edu
  • Olivia Ott, M.S. · TREAD@health.ucsd.edu
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TREAD: Time Restricted Eating Intervention for Alzheimer's Disease (NCT06548191) | Bored Studies