DENVER & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Global Down Syndrome Foundation, the Alzheimers Association, and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome have awarded $1.2 million in research grants to five scientists for innovative investigations that explore the development of Alzheimers disease in individuals with Down syndrome. The goal is to eventually translate the findings into improved treatments for all people with Alzheimers.

The organizations are supporting this growing area of study through a new joint grants initiative called Understanding the Development and Devising Treatments for Alzheimers Disease in Individuals with Down Syndrome.

The Alzheimers Association is very interested in understanding why people with Down syndrome are at such high risk for Alzheimers, and how it relates to other variations of the disease, so that we can identify new therapies to treat Alzheimers in both the Down syndrome and typical populations, said Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimers Association vice president of Medical and Scientific Relations. Research in this population may also help us develop predictive tools for Alzheimers and design more effective clinical trials.

Investing with the Alzheimers Association has been so rewarding. The science our joint initiative is funding is of the highest caliber, and each grant approaches understanding, treating or preventing Alzheimers in people with Down syndrome from a very different angle. If initial results are promising, we hope that the National Institutes of Health will continue to fund this excellent science, said Michelle Sie Whitten, executive director of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.

Alzheimers Disease and Down Syndrome

Alzheimer's is a fatal, progressive, degenerative brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimers, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder whereby a person has three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two. This chromosome also contains the gene that encodes the amyloid precursor protein (APP). APP is cleaved to form amyloid-beta, which is the primary component of amyloid plaques a lesion found in the brains of people with Alzheimers that many scientists believe is part of the cause of the disease.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Down syndrome occurs in 1 out of 691 infants in the United States. Due to improved clinical care, people with Down syndrome are now regularly living into their sixth decade of life, causing many to develop dementia due to Alzheimers. Autopsy studies show that by age 40, the brains of almost all individuals with Down syndrome have significant levels of plaques and tangles abnormal protein deposits that are considered Alzheimer's hallmarks. But despite the presence of these brain changes, not everyone with the syndrome develops Alzheimer's symptoms.

One of the many questions researchers hope to answer about Down syndrome is why some people develop dementia symptoms and others don't. Researchers are working to answer a similar key question about those who don't have Down syndrome. This may lead to new opportunities for treatment and prevention of the disease.

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New Research Grants from Alzheimer’s Association and Global Down Syndrome Foundation Explore Links Between Alzheimer’s ...

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