{"id":17012,"date":"2013-10-19T14:02:19","date_gmt":"2013-10-19T20:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=17012"},"modified":"2016-05-27T17:18:23","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T23:18:23","slug":"promising-direction-alzheimers-research-dr-huntington-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/19\/promising-direction-alzheimers-research-dr-huntington-potter\/","title":{"rendered":"A Promising Direction in Alzheimer’s Research: Dr. Huntington Potter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Huntington Potter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had a wonderful opportunity yesterday, October 18, 2013, to meet with one of the leading Alzheimer\u2019s researchers, Dr. Huntington Potter. He recently moved to Colorado to join the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s and Down Syndrome<\/h3>\n

Dr. Potter is well known for his discovery of the mechanistic relationship between Alzheimer’s Disease and Down syndrome. Current research estimates all people with Down syndrome will have the brain pathology of Alzheimer’s disease but only about half will have the associated degenerative cognitive symptoms.<\/p>\n

Dr Potters went on to tell me that his research led to the discovery of triplication of chromosome 21 in many cells of s with Alzheimer\u2019s disease, leading him to postulate that people with Alzheimer\u2019s have a genetic defect or an environmental exposure that leads them to develop mosaic trisomy 21\/Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s and Rheumatoid Arthritis<\/h3>\n

But he also brought up that those individuals who have rheumatoid arthritis do not get Alzheimer\u2019s Disease. He said it was believed to be due to a protein released in the brain, Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). That protein is now available as an FDA approved drug branded as Leukine and used for bone marrow transplant s.<\/p>\n

Dr. Potter connected the dots and researched if Luekine could stop Alzheimer\u2019s Disease. In a mice study the results were impressive. After a 20 day ment, there was complete reversal of cognitive impairment in the mice. They are now looking to conduct human trails within a few months.<\/p>\n

In addition, individuals ed with Leukine for bone marrow transplants also showed a dramatic increase in memory, an unexpected consequence. He cautioned that more research was needed before it should be used on humans to Alzheimer’s. You can read more about this study through this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Potter walked me through his research and gave me a tour of his lab at CU. I was very impressed.<\/p>\n

Colorado Connection<\/h3>\n

Along with his associate, Jonathan H. Woodcock, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, they have established the University of Colorado Memory and Dementia Clinic<\/a>. Now Colorado and neighboring states have a local specializing in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease. Dr. Potter said the response has been overwhelming with many families already taking advantage of the for consultation, and ment. In addition, they will be able to access\u00a0al trials at some point through the .<\/p>\n

The incidence of Alzheimer\u2019s disease in Colorado is expected to increase 124 percent between 2000 and 2025\u2014the largest increase of any of the lower 48 states.<\/p>\n

You can support Dr. Potter on his mission through the University of Colorado Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please read more through these links:<\/p>\n