Scientists Seek Solutions To Alzheimer’s Disease (NAPSA)—Today, 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the numberis expected to increase dramatically as the baby-boom generation ages. The brain disorder strikes an estimated one in 10 people 65 and older and half those 85 or older. Without a cure, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates as many as 16 million Americans will have AD by 2050. Fortunately, distinguished researchers are working on the issue, including William E. Klunk, M.D., Ph.D. and Chester A. Mathis, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; John C. Morris, M.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; and Ronald C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic—each of whom recently won a MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease. “The goal of the award is to encourage research and to support the future workof scientists who have already madea significant contribution to our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. These four scientists have contributed to the early detection and diagnosis of this dreaded disease,” says Sibyl Jacobson, president, MetLife Foundation. Drs. Klunk and Mathis have developed experimental noninvasive methods of detecting and creating images of the plaques that form in the brain tissue of Alz- heimer’s sufferers. The researchers use dyes to make the plaques visible to medical imaging equipment. The ability to see these According to the Alzheimer's Association, here are 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease: 1. Memory loss 2.Difficulty performing familiar tasks 3. Problemswith language 4. Disorientation to time and space 5. Poor or decreased judgement 6. Problems with abstract thinking 7. Misplacing things 8. Changesin mood or behavior 9. Changesin personality 10.Loss of initiative @Q plaques in living patients will help researchers directly measure the effects of therapies now being developed. Dr. Morris works on ways to identify the earliest symptomatic stages of AD, evaluating new drug therapies in the treatment of dementia, and establishing phenotypes for inherited forms of AD and other dementias. Dr. Petersen focuses on mild cognitive impairment and whether it becomes Alzheimer’s. Those past the age of 65 with mild cognitive impairment are found to be at greater risk of developing AD than healthy individuals the same age. MetLife Foundation has supported Alzheimer’s research through the awards program since 1986. The Foundation also supports the Alzheimer’s Association, and has sponsored a documentary on PBS called The Forgetting: A Portrait ofAlzheimer’s. For information about the Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.
