The Cognitive Neurology Clinic at Beilinson Hospital noticed that among patients who began to develop Alzheimer’s disease before the age of 65, the majority were Eastern Jews (Mizrahim).
The exponential growth of patients from eastern communities prompted Beilinson researchers to study the problem more seriously. They checked hundreds of patient records and were convinced that their assumption was correct, writes the Mako website.
Dr. Amir Glick, director of the Cognitive Neurology Clinic, hopes that further research will be able to isolate the gene responsible for the development of dementia.
Since Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common diseases in older people and there is no cure for it, the American NIH (National Institutes of Health) became interested in the Israeli study, which awarded Beilinson Hospital a grant of 53 million shekels.
The next stage of the study will be conducted jointly with Boston University, as well as two Israeli clinics – Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon and Laniado Hospital in Netanya.
The study will focus on 4,000 Israelis under the age of 65 who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a group that makes up less than 2.6% of all patients with the disease in Israel. The researchers note that although this is a small group, it could help make significant progress in finding cures for all ages.