OKLAHOMA CITY: People with Down Syndrome run a very high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, despite having shorter expected lifespans than the rest of the population, because of the genetic abnormality that they inherited from their parents.
By their 30s, changes begin occurring in the brains of people with Down Syndrome that set the process of Alzheimer’s into motion. By their 50s, nearly all will have the telltale signs that precede the disease and about 70 per cent will develop dementia for reasons that aren’t yet clear.
But the cellular mechanisms that start the brain down the same pathway toward severe decline in cognitive and memory capabilities are also much the same as for people in the rest of the population, who generally develop dementia later in life.
Now a group of researchers is working to call more attention to the connection between Down Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease and better coordinate global research in a way that would benefit everyone…