The Future of Aging

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disease that usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events or familiar tasks. How rapidly it advances varies from person to person, but the disease eventually causes confusion, personality and behavioral changes, and impaired judgment. People with Alzheimer's have difficulty communicating, learning, thinking and reasoning, which can have a devastating impact on their work, social and family life. Eventually, most people with Alzheimer's are unable to care for themselves.

Alzheimer's is a disease that destroys brain cells — it is NOT a normal part of aging. It can occur in people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, but most people diagnosed with Alzheimer's are older than 65. The early-onset form of the disease that strikes younger people accounts for less than 10 percent of all reported cases, and is believed to be transmitted genetically across multiple generations of the same family.

Today, four million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, including one in 10 people over 65 and nearly half of those over 85. Unless a cure or prevention is found, that number will jump to 14 million by 2050. Worldwide, it is estimated that 22 million individuals will develop Alzheimer's disease by 2025. This disease affects caregivers also. In a national survey, 19 million Americans said they have a family member with Alzheimer's disease, and 37 million said they knew someone with the disease.

Beeson Scholars researching Alzheimer's disease

Nf-kB And Alzheimer's Disease
Frank S. Lee, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2000 Scholar)

Intraneuronal Beta-Amyloid Accumalation With Aging And Alzheimer Pathology.
Gunnar K. Gouras, Weill Medical College of Cornell University (2000 Scholar)

Tracking Of Pathology In Pdapp Mice By Mri
Helene Benveniste, Stony Brook University School of Medicine (1998 Scholar)

Gamma-Secretases In Alzheimer’s Disease
Todd E. Golde, University of Florida College of Medicine (1997 Scholar)

The Effects of APOE on Amyloid Beta Deposition and Neurodegeneration in Transgenic Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease
David M. Holtzman, Washington University School of Medicine (1995 Scholar)

Functional Replacement of Presenilin-1 Neuronal Development by BCL-2.
Edward H. Koo, University of California, San Diego (1995 Scholar)

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases Regulate Neurotrophin Function.
Frank M. Longo, Stanford University School of Medicine (1995 Scholar)

In Vitro and In Vivo Models of Synucleinopathies
James E. Galvin, New York University Langone School of Medicine (2002 Scholar)

The role of X11alpha:amyloid precursor protein interaction in Alzheimer's disease
R. Scott Turner, Georgetown University Medical Center (1998 Scholar)

Estrogen And Alzheimer Disease:
Matthew P. Frosch, Harvard Medical School (1999 Scholar)

Development of Therapies for Polyglutamine Neurodegeneration and Related Disorders
Albert R. La Spada, University of California, San Diego (2002 Scholar)

The Apolipoprotein E4/E4 Genotype is Associated with an Increased Burden of Somatic Mutations in Mitochondrial DNA
Michael T. Lin, Weill Medical College of Cornell University (2002 Scholar)

The Neural Correlates of Successful Associative Memory Function
Reisa A. Sperling, Harvard Medical School (2003 Scholar)

Blocking ApoE/ABeta Binding as a Novel AD therapy
Marcin Sadowski, New York University School of Medicine (2004 Scholar)

White Matter Change and CNS Process in the Elderly
Lisa C. Silbert, Oregon Health & Science University (2004 Scholar)

Alzheiimer's Disease Beta-Amyloid in the Lens
Lee E. Goldstein, Boston University School of Medicine (2004 Scholar)

Structural MRI Outcome Predictors in MCI
Liana G. Apostolova, University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine (2005 Scholar)

Effect of Statins on Pathobiology of Alzheimer's Disease
Cynthia M. Carlsson, University of Wisconsin Medical School (2005 Scholar)

A-beta and Proteomic Analysis of CSF in AD and Aging
Randall J. Bateman, Washington University School of Medicine (2007 Scholar)

Awareness of Deficit in Alzheimer's Disease
Stephanie Cosentino, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons (2008 Scholar)

PET Imaging of Microglial Activation in Alzheimer's Disease
Paul B. Rosenberg, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2008 Scholar)

Investigation of Platelet beta-secretase Activity in Alzheimer's Disease
Stephen A. Todd, Queen's University of Belfast (2008 Scholar)

Collagen VI: Novel Mechanisms and Functions in Alzheimer's Disease
Dena Bou Dubal, University of California, San Francisco (2009 Scholar)

Assessment of Biomarkers and Behavior in a Transgenic Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease
Edmond Teng, University of California, Los Angeles (2009 Scholar)

Mapping Causative Factors in the Sortilin-related Pathway in Alzheimer's Disease
Christiane Reitz, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (2009 Scholar)