The study, conducted at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, will examine the relationship between longevity and dementia by comparing the offspring of Alzheimer's patients to those of cognitively normal parents.
At the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, in collaboration with Maccabi Health Services, a study is currently underway in which protective factors against dementia and risk factors for it are tested. The study compares two populations: 40-65-year-old offspring of Alzheimer's patients versus offspring of the same age of cognitively normal parents, who lived longer (father at least until the age of 70 and mother at least until the age of 75). The study examines genetic and environmental factors, factors related to lifestyle, cognitive function, imaging of the brain and more, in order to characterize people who are at risk of dementia and compare them with people who are endowed with features that protect them from it, and thus develop prevention methods that can be implemented in the future before the onset of clinical symptoms.
In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in life expectancy. As a result, there is an increase in the number of people suffering from diseases whose prevalence increases with age, such as: diabetes, certain types of cancer, stroke, Parkinson's disease and dementia. In many studies in the world, the causes of these diseases are examined and based on the conclusions - how it is possible to postpone or prevent their appearance altogether. That is, the factors that can influence "healthy aging" are investigated. What is healthy aging? The definition varies among different researchers, but some define it as reaching the age of at least 70 without diabetes, prostate cancer, stroke, heart attack or bypass surgery.
Dementia is a term for a set of diseases in which there is a consistent and continuous decline in mental abilities (memory, orientation, language, identification, understanding, etc.) and as a result there is a functional decline that gets worse and worse until a situation where the person is completely dependent on his environment. The risk of having dementia (and Alzheimer's disease in general) increases with aging. At the age of 65 or older, 5% of the population suffers from dementia. This incidence doubles every 5 years, and over the age of 85, about 25-40% of the population suffers from the phenomenon.
The failure of many different treatments that have been developed for the disease in recent decades, as well as the understanding that providing treatment at the stage when the person is already ill, is considered too late an intervention since the brain has already been damaged by the damage caused by the disease, led the researchers to look for who are the people "prone to disaster" ". For example, it was found that diabetics, people suffering from high blood pressure, people with a low level of education, descendants of Alzheimer's patients and more, are at increased risk of suffering from dementia. The expectation is that when we understand what are the mechanisms of brain damage in these cases, providing the right treatment, can prevent the onset of the disease. Another way to understand dementia is through the study of people who are especially protected from it - such as, for example, people who have reached an extreme age with normal mental functioning - and their descendants.
Longevity is affected by environmental factors, factors related to lifestyle and hereditary factors. So for example, first degree relatives of people who have extended their lives in an extraordinary way, have higher chances compared to the rest of the population, to extend their lives as well. Studies have shown that the parents of people who reached the age of 7 or older were 90 times or more likely to reach the age of XNUMX or older compared to their contemporaries.
It is even more interesting to see that extreme longevity is associated with "healthy aging" - and apparently, the offspring of parents who reached the age of 90 or older were healthier, and with fewer age-related diseases compared to their peers. A study that followed Ashkenazi Jews who reached the age of 95 or older showed that their children have a lower level of "bad" fats (LDL) and a higher level of "good" fats (HDL) in their blood compared to these values in their peers whose parents did not reach extreme old age. In addition, the offspring of the parents who lived longer had a lower incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, longevity in the parents was found to be associated with slowing down the physical and functional decline in their offspring. Therefore, people who have reached an extreme age and their descendants are a good research model for learning the factors that slow down aging.
Mentally, various studies have shown that in the children of people who lived longer, the risk of dementia is lower, the decline in mental functions is slower, and in their brain findings such as damage to the blood vessels in the brain or a decrease in the volume of areas associated with memory (hippocampus) were rarely demonstrated.
Members of the Maccabi Health Insurance Fund aged 40-65 whose parents lived longer without cognitive decline (their father reached at least 70 and their mother at least 75) and are interested in participating in the study are invited to contact 03-5305439, (please leave a voice message that includes name and phone) or send an e-mail to The detailed email:
Liora Rosenberg Liora.Rozenberg@sheba.health.gov.il
