What Type of Treatment for Alzehimer's Disease Are We Closest To? (0:58)
Alzheimer's disease is so prevalent among Down syndrome patients that a lot of research is being done to find a treatment. HealthMaker William Mobley, MD, PhD, talks about the status of current research and where it's going in this video.
Read Transcript
I think we're close to a disease modifying treatment. What I mean by that is, we're not just dealing with the side effects of this disorder, but we're starting to stick our wrenches into the basic mechanism. One part of this mechanism has to do with processing of this protein called APP. I work on Alzheimer's disease, because I work on Down Syndrome.
And you may know that every person with Down syndrome has all the brain pathology of Alzheimer's disease by age 40. And that most of them by 60 will have also further lost cognition, will have demented if you will. Down Syndrome is the single richest source of Alzheimer's disease in the world. There are 400, 000 people in the US who have Down Syndrome, that are absolutely confined to a life that will eventuate in Alzheimer's disease.
William Mobley, MD, PhD, is chair of the Department of Neurosciences at UCSD and a leading expert on Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease. He discusses the surprising link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's.
