Rare Type of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. John Ringman studies a rare type of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at the USC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. This type is sometimes called the ‘Jalisco Mutation’ and he works with families to understand the genetic mutation.

National Public Radio (NPR) wrote a piece about how families experience the disease and the work Dr. Ringman does to help the families, visiting them at their homes to explain the disease. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/27/506720771/early-alzheimer-s-gene-spells-tragedy-for-patients-opportunity-for-science

Here is the beginning of the article:

Early Alzheimer’s Gene Is A Curse For Families, A Gift For Science
Rosemary Navarro was living in Mexico when her brother called from California.
Something wasn’t right with their mom, then in her early 40s. She was having trouble paying bills and keeping jobs as a food preparer in convalescent homes.
Navarro, then 22, sold her furniture to pay for a trip back to the U.S. for herself and her two young children. Almost as soon as she arrived, she knew her mother wasn’t the same person. “She was there but sometimes she wasn’t there,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, man, this isn’t going to be good.’ ”

Before long, Navarro was feeding her mom, then changing her diapers. She put a special lock on the door to keep her from straying outside. Unable to continue caring for her, Navarro eventually moved her mom to a nursing home, where she spent eight years.
Near the end, her mom, a quiet woman who had immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and loved telenovelas, could communicate only by laughing or crying. Navarro was there when she took her last breath in 2009, at age 53. “What I went through with my mom I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she said.

Rosemary Navarro was living in Mexico when her brother called from California.

Something wasn’t right with their mom, then in her early 40s. She was having trouble paying bills and keeping jobs as a food preparer in convalescent homes.
Navarro, then 22, sold her furniture to pay for a trip back to the U.S. for herself and her two young children. Almost as soon as she arrived, she knew her mother wasn’t the same person. “She was there but sometimes she wasn’t there,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, man, this isn’t going to be good.’ ”

Before long, Navarro was feeding her mom, then changing her diapers. She put a special lock on the door to keep her from straying outside. Unable to continue caring for her, Navarro eventually moved her mom to a nursing home, where she spent eight years.
Near the end, her mom, a quiet woman who had immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and loved telenovelas, could communicate only by laughing or crying. Navarro was there when she took her last breath in 2009, at age 53. “What I went through with my mom I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she said.

Click here to read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/27/506720771/early-alzheimer-s-gene-spells-tragedy-for-patients-opportunity-for-science