A network of families riddled with Alzheimer’s has given scientists a unique window on the disease. But the group’s future is uncertain amid funding cuts.
A single blood test may be able to predict when a person will develop Alzheimer’s symptoms—years before memory loss begins—according to new research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.
Scientists are trying to find out why one man has been able to stave off Alzheimer’s for nearly 25 years despite having a rare genetic mutation that doctors say essentially guaranteed he developed the disease by his late 40s or early 50s.
Jake Heinrichs is a Broadway theater electrician from Brooklyn who carries one of the early-onset genes. The disease claimed his grandmother, uncle, father and brother, all within the same age range. “Symptoms in the 40s and, and dying in 50s,” he said.
Carrie Richardson, 44, inherited a genetic mutation that caused early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. She’s participating in an Alzheimer’s research study at Washington University School of Medicine.
Scientists are searching for the secret in Doug Whitney’s biology that has protected him from dementia, hoping it could lead to ways to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s for many other people.
Washing waste from the brain is an essential function of sleep—and it could help ward off dementia
Among members of the Richardson family who carry a mutation in the PSEN1 gene, the average age when symptoms start is 39
Side effects of lecanemab are manageable, study finds
