Mysteries Of Alzheimer’s, Dementia (NAPSA)—Scientists are contem- plating important questions about health, mind and age: Could your blood hold the molecularsecrets to a fountain of youth, preventing age-related brain disorders? Are brain aging and Alzhei- mer’s disease causedbya failureofinterconnected systems,triggering a dominolike cascade of disease? Can targeting the red blood cells and blood vessels jointly keep your brain healthy and prevent dementia? ‘The Problem ‘As people live longer, Alzheimer’s and other age-related dementias are on the rise, projected to reach more than Scientists are seeking answers to important questions about how to preserveyour mind over time. ‘The three teams, headquarteredat the Salk Institute for BiologicalStudies in La Jolla, Calif.; Stanford University School of Medicinein Stanford, Calif.; and Uni- 75 million people worldwide by 2030. versity Hospitals Cleveland Medical not only deadly butexact a highfinan- work to develop new solutions to the urgentproblem of age-related cognitive decline. The researchers are: To date, no effective therapy has been developedfor these disorders, which are cial and emotionaltoll onsociety. ‘The Research Tofind solutions, three large-scale research teams are exploring those questions as part ofan initiative to merge research of the brain and the blood vessels to develop new understanding of—and, ultimately, better preventions and treatments for— age-related brain disorders such as Alzheimer’sdisease. ‘TheScientists To help, American Heart Associa- tion, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health, and The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group,a division ofthe Allen Institute, launchedthe $43 million research proj- ect to bridge the science of vascular and brain health through revolutionary, out- of-the-box thinking. Additional sup- porters include the OskarFischer Proj- ect and the Henrietta B. and Frederick H.Bugher Foundation. Center in Cleveland, OH, respectively, + “Rusty” Gage, Ph.D., a neuroscience researcherandpresidentofSalk, who will lead an eight-year project look- ing into new targets for therapeutic research and biomarkers ofearly-stage cognitive decline. Tony Wyss-Coray, Ph.D., a professor of neurology at Stanford, who will lead a four-year project studying how changesin the immunesystem affect cognitive health. MukeshK. Jain, M.D., a cardiologistat University Hospitals Cleveland Medi- cal Center and Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, whowill lead a team ofinvestigators on a four-year project investigating whethertargeting red bloodcells and bloodvessels can prevent dementia. ‘The Hope ‘Theresearch could yield transformational discoveries to better detect, treat andprevent cognitive decline.
