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Alzheimer's Disease Study

Mayo Clinic is joining a nationwide effort to identify 1,000 families with two or more siblings with late-life Alzheimer's disease (AD) to participate in a major research study.

The Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Study is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Its goal is to speed the search for risk-factor genes that increase the chance of developing AD later in life. Mayo is one of several NIA-funded AD research centers participating around the country.

Researchers will create a large bank of genetic material and data from families with multiple members with late-onset AD. Scientists hope this information will help them uncover the risk-factor genes that contribute to late-onset AD, the most common form of the disease. About 90 percent of people with AD have the late-onset variety, which strikes people age 65 and older. Discovery of risk-factor genes will help illuminate the underlying disease processes, stimulate new research and identify new drug therapies.

To be eligible to participate in the study, families must have at least three members who can donate blood, including:

• Two siblings (brothers or sisters) who developed AD after age 60, and
  
• Another family member over age 50 who may have memory loss or
  
• A family member over age 60 who does not have any memory loss.

Participation involves a neurological examination, donating a blood sample and providing medical records as well as medical, demographic and family histories. Unaffected family members also may be asked to participate.

There is no cost to study participants. Coordinators will make alternative arrangements for participation if eligible volunteers do not live near a designated study site. All information gathered will be treated confidentially. Researchers will not be able to identify samples on an individual level. For more information, call the Memory Disorder Clinic at (904) 953-7687. More information about the Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Study is available at the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease (www.ncrad.org).