On June 20, the Today Show spotlighted a major new study from the Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer's Center (VMAC) tracking how good heart health may slow or even stop Alzheimer’s from developing in the brain. In the segment, actress and Nashville resident Kimberly Williams-Paisley explained how her mother’s decade-long struggle with Alzheimer’s spurred her to participate in the study led by Angela Jefferson, PhD, VUMC professor of Neurology and Medicine and founding director of VMAC.
VMAC needs to enroll at least 1,000 people aged 50 and older to study the long-term connection between heart health and brain health. Researchers encourage people of color, who are disproportionally impacted yet historically underrepresented in research, to enroll in the study.
Jefferson and her colleagues are hopeful that Alzheimer’s could become a preventable disease in the future, if the underlying drivers of the disease are identified and targeted with an early treatment. Find out more about the study and how you can help in this article from the VUMC Reporter.