Initiative brings together Alzheimer’s Association and Down syndrome organizations
http://www.alzheimers-illinois.org/enewsletter/january2013/new_initiative.asp
The Alzheimer’s Association, the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation recently launched a new research initiative to better understand the development of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome and translate the research into improved treatments for people at risk to develop Alzheimer’s.
The Alzheimer’s Association, the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation recently launched a new research initiative to better understand the development of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals with Down syndrome and translate the research into improved treatments for people at risk to develop Alzheimer’s.
The organizations are making a total of $1.2 million available for new research projects.
“Through this new initiative, we hope to better understand the mechanisms that lead to Alzheimer’s in people with Down syndrome in order to get us a big step closer to new treatments,” said William Thies, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association chief medical and scientific officer. “The eventual goal is to advance the charge toward better Alzheimer’s therapies for people with Down syndrome and for people without it.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Down syndrome occurs in 1 out of 691 infants in the United States and is caused by inheritance of three copies of chromosome 21. In addition to early physical and intellectual challenges, individuals with Down syndrome are at a high risk for developing the symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer’s. People with Down syndrome develop the two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease – amyloid plaques and tau tangles – in their 30s and 40s. Due to improved clinical care, people with Down syndrome are now regularly living into their sixth decade of life, causing many to develop Alzheimer’s.
The high incidence of the symptoms characteristic of Alzheimer’s in people with Down syndrome is thought to be due to the extra copy of chromosome 21.
The Alzheimer’s Association and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome have identified several potential themes on which researchers may submit projects, including:
• Can Down syndrome animal models provide new insights into the initiation and development of
Alzheimer’s?
• Are therapies given before the emergence of dementia symptoms capable of slowing or blocking
the development of Alzheimer’s in cellular and animal models of Down syndrome?
• Could early, non-drug interventions not only reduce the early physical and intellectual challenges
caused by Down syndrome, but also slow and/or reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?
• Can Alzheimer’s biomarkers be used in people with Down syndrome to identify the earliest
onset of Alzheimer’s disease-related changes?
• Can cognitive tests be developed to measure Alzheimer’s-related memory impairment and early
dementia in people with Down syndrome?
This innovative funding initiative grew out of a groundbreaking September 2012 workshop cosponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association, the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.
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