JAX scientists have uncovered evidence that poor lifestyle choices may have a powerful impact in making us more prone to Alzheimer’s. But healthy choices may potentially reduce the risk of the disease.
Our team is working with mice to understand how poor diet and sedentary behavior trigger immune responses in the brain, leading to a cascade of events that may ultimately impair thinking and memory, as in Alzheimer’s disease.
Why is it that some people’s brains have been found to have the signature defects of Alzheimer’s disease yet they never showed the thinking and memory problems of the disease? Some people, it seems, are protected from Alzheimer’s disease and some aren’t.
Using mouse models, JAX scientists are working to discover the genes that protect some people from the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. With this knowledge, drugs can be developed that mimic those genes so we can all be protected from Alzheimer's disease.
In the next 12 months, 469,000 people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Each of these cases will be unique, yet these patients and families will be left to struggle with this terrible disease without effective, personalized treatments.
Our scientists found the link between viruses and cancer, the existence and nature of stem cells, the basis of organ transplantation biology — among many other pioneering discoveries. In fact, 26 Nobel Prizes have been associated with our research, resources, and educational programs. With our expertise in the genomic technologies that will power personalized medicine, we can stop Alzheimer's before it starts.
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