Research

Major Alzheimer’s study aims to predict who will develop the disease

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis •
John C. Morris, MD (right), director of the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, examines a patient at the center. A long-term study of adult children of Alzheimer’s patients – led by the School of Medicine – aims to define who is likely to develop the disease and when, and to establish a timeline for how quickly the disease will progress.
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Adults with an aging parent diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are at elevated risk of developing the disease themselves. But doctors still don’t know enough yet to predict which of these adult children will go on to develop Alzheimer’s. Nor can they predict at what age the characteristic symptoms of memory loss and confusion will appear.