糖心Vlog

糖心Vlog Receives $1 Million Grant for Dementia Prevention

Dementia Prevention Initiative

Catherine Robson, a nurse practitioner at 贵础鲍鈥檚 Comprehensive Center for Brain Health observes as Dr. James Galvin administers a test using a videonystagmography (VNG), which measures eye movements and is used as an early biomarker sign of Parkinson鈥檚 disease and neurodegeneration.


By gisele galoustian | 6/22/2017

Is it possible to prevent dementia from happening in the first place? That is what a leading neuroscientist at hopes to prove through an innovative approach that defies the notion that 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all鈥 when it comes to battling Alzheimer鈥檚 disease (AD), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), Parkinson鈥檚 disease (PD) and other related disorders.

贵础鲍鈥檚 has received a $1 million grant from The Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation for a that uses the latest advances in genetics, biology and the molecular bases of disease. This grant will launch the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health (CCBH) at 糖心Vlog, which will focus on using a personalized approach and precision medicine to reduce risk.


Developed by , M.D., M.P.H., a world-renowned , a leading international expert on AD and LBD, and associate dean for clinical research in 贵础鲍鈥檚 College of Medicine, this program will deliver a personalized prevention plan, tailored to each individual鈥檚 risk profile based on their genetic traits, biomarkers (blood, imaging, and electrophysiology), socio-demographics, lifestyle choices, and co-existent medical conditions. The CCBH is one of only a handful of centers in the world focusing on dementia prevention, and the only one that uses Galvin鈥檚 novel protocol based on personalized evaluation and prevention plans. 听

鈥淚t is time to abandon generalized approaches to how we address Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and other forms of dementia and to usher in a paradigm shift in which we begin to consider neurodegenerative disorders as diseases of a lifetime with opportunities for individualized strategies to build a better brain as we age,鈥 said , M.D., dean of 贵础鲍鈥檚 College of Medicine. 鈥淲e are extremely grateful to The Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation for supporting Dr. Galvin鈥檚 highly innovative work, which we believe will alter the cascade of pathologic events occurring in at-risk individuals, thereby reducing the risk or even preventing dementia from developing.鈥

For more than a decade, Galvin鈥檚 research has focused on community-based assessment of older adults from diverse backgrounds to examine the impact of physical, mental and emotional health, lifestyle, race, culture, education and socioeconomic status on cognitive performance. Using this approach, his team has identified nine distinct risk factors that influence risk of disease and subsequent patient outcomes to potentially reverse or modify risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases. Risk factors include hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, obesity, low mental activities, decreased social engagement, low muscle mass and physical activities, poor diet and disrupted sleep. An estimated 40 to 50 million Americans have at least one of these risk factors.

Galvin鈥檚 work supports the notion that there may be multiple pathways to develop AD and LBD and therefore multiple ways to treat and prevent these diseases.

鈥淯p to 30 percent of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease cases may be prevented through modification of risk factors and behavioral changes to mitigate the impact of those risk factors that are not modifiable like age and family history, and post-mortem studies confirm this,鈥 said Galvin. 鈥淔urthermore, more than half of the cognitive decline that occurs in these diseases are due to yet unexplained causes and we plan to tackle this important scientific challenge through our Dementia Prevention Initiative.鈥

A secondary benefit of this project will establish a shareable database of clinical, cognitive, functional, behavioral, genetic, biomarker and imaging data for researchers around the world to utilize this data to develop and test new hypotheses.

鈥淚f we could prevent or even delay the onset of neurodegenerative diseases by just five years in South Florida alone, we would reduce the number of cases by 50 percent, which would spare 250,000 people from suffering from this devastating disease that impacts the individual, the family, the caregiver and the community,鈥 said Stephen G. Mehallis, president of The Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation. 鈥淭his program will serve unmet needs for research in neurodegenerative diseases locally as well as globally and we are very pleased to support Dr. Galvin and his outstanding team.鈥

By the year 2050, an estimated 16 million Americans and 60 million people worldwide will be affected by AD and related disorders, which include LBD, PD, vascular dementia and frontotemporal degeneration. By age 85, there is a 42 percent risk of an individual developing AD and related disorders. Nationally, if the onset of AD and related disorders is delayed by five years, 25 years later there would be approximately 5.7 million fewer cases, family savings would approach $87 billion, and social savings would approach $367 billion.

鈥淚n all likelihood, efforts to prevent cognitive decline and development of dementia may be more successful if we utilize a multimodal approach directed to at-risk individuals based on their personal health profile rather than 鈥榦ne-size-fits-all鈥 approaches,鈥 said Galvin. 鈥淭he detection and interventions addressing root causes may offer novel approaches to diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and other neurological disorders.鈥 听听

The Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation was established by the late Harry and Dorothy Mangurian to provide support to medical, educational and environmental organizations, nationally and internationally. The Mangurians resided in both Ocala and Fort Lauderdale, from where Harry managed his various business interests including real estate development, furniture retailing, professional sports (including ownership of the NBA鈥檚 Boston Celtics) as well as Mockingbird Farm, which became a world-renowned thoroughbred racing and breeding operation. Dorothy passed away in 2015 after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia.

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