Daughters Against Alzheimer's Raises $1.8 Million For Alzheimer's Research
Live Oak Caregivers recently participated - for the seventh year - as a sponsor of the "Battle For The Brain" event at the Coca-Cola Roxy. The event raises money for Emory University's Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Battle For The Brain is a lip sync competition created by Daughters Against Alzheimer's, which has raised over $6.75 Million for Alzheimer's research since the inaugural Battle For The Brain event in 2018. Daughters Against Alzheimer's financial support for the research and development of early diagnosis blood tests has been instrumental in efforts towards the ultimate goal of preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Early Indicators Of Alzheimer's Disease
Goizueta Institute scientists in the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center have identified proteins that can signal whether patients may develop Alzheimer’s disease, long before cognitive symptoms begin. Part of a long history of protein research at Emory, these studies are considered milestones, providing in-depth insights into how and when molecular processes change as Alzheimer’s disease develops. One of the group's studies developed a new protein panel using spinal fluid, which could be used to determine whether patients are at a higher or lower than average risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Another study proved that proteins in spinal fluid are a sensitive indicator of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms – thirty years in advance - for patients with a rare form of inherited Alzheimer’s disease.
The First FDA-approved Treatment Of Alzheimer's
Emory research teams participated in studies that led to FDA approval of Lecanemab, the first traditional approval of a treatment that slows cognitive decline in early Alzheimer's. Lecanemab contains a type of antibody that targets and removes amyloid plaques from the brain. Amyloid plaques, abnormal clumps of sticky protein fragments that build up between nerve cells in the brain as people develop Alzheimer’s disease, are associated with declining memory and cognitive function. Lecanemab works with the immune system to clear away these plaques.
Research and Progress
The delivery of FDA-approved treatments represents an inflection point for Alzheimer’s disease care. After years of clinical trials testing Lecanemab and similar medications at Emory, the translation of research to clinical care has come to fruition. The Goizueta Institute is among the largest volume sites nationally to provide the drug to patients. Blood tests that can detect the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s and disease-modifying treatments now being prescribed are significant steps in the journey to cure the disease.
Live Oak Caregivers is proud to be a sponsor of the Battle For The Brain fundraising event. Read more about Daughters Against Alzheimer's commitment to supporting Alzheimer's research.