CALIFORNIA --
Most of us know some one affected by Alzheimer’s disease. In California, a number of patients with early onset Alzheimer’s who were all from the same part of Mexico led researchers to discover they all have the same gene mutation.
Rosemary Navarro, a mother of two, has always known that something mysterious was destroying members of her family.
"It's very sad it's a very evil disease which I call it, because it takes away the person that you know," says Navarro.
Aunts, uncles, cousins, when they hit their forties, they started to lose their mind. Then, it happened to her mother.
"She wasn't able to sustain a job, she would wander off," says Navarro.
Neurologist John Ringman found she had early onset Alzheimer’s triggered by a newly discovered gene.
"If you inherit this gene, this form of the gene that you will almost certainly develop this disease, says Dr. Ringman.
The search for answers sent him to Jalisco, Mexico.
"We started realizing that the number of families that we saw could trace their roots to the same area of Mexico… it all stems from one initial foundation possibly 100 years ago and these are all his or her descendants," says Dr. Ringman.
Rosemary's biggest question was if she had this gene too?
"I have two children and my future is what matters to them at this point," says Navarro.
She got tested and the result was devastating; she did have the gene and her children have a 50-50 chance of getting the gene too.
For her children’s sake, and her own, Rosemary is trying to help find a cure. She goes to tests every few months, and she volunteered for a study on a new investigational drug, one that doctors hope will stave off the disease.
"Stimulating someone's own immune system or providing antibodies against this molecule that gets deposited in the brain, hoping by doing so we will help the body clear protein out and therefore cut off the cascade of events that cause the disease," says Dr. Ringman.
If this trial proves successful, it can change the face of Alzheimer’s treatment for other people who are at risk. Rosemary and her family are hopeful.
(Information courtesy NBC News)
