Fascinating episode 60 Minutes "90+ Study" follow-up

AnnReid, I have a "Nun Study" in my own family: my mom's 2 older sisters who lived identical lives (although not the same age). Even moreso than the nun study, they grew up with the same bio parents and had identical lives (lived together) for ALL their lives -- from birth -- not just from 18 when entering a convent. One is now 101 with total cognition intact (reads the WSJ every day) and her sister, 98, has very advanced dementia (she's in year 8 now). They even worked at the same company and retired within 2 years of each other. It's crazy. No closer to answers except genetics of some sort.

Take a look at “The Nun Study” if you’re not familiar with it. Also very interesting. My grandmother, mother, and a maternal aunt have all suffered from dementia.

Yes, there is no definitive cause of AD. The beta amyloid- tau cause is only a theory. Another study was done with over 700 nuns living in a convent back in 1999. They were chosen because each of their lives was so intertwined. Same environment, same foods, same lifestyle. The nuns ranged from 75 to 106 yrs old. The nuns had given the researchers the OK to biopsy their brains after death. The results were unexpected. About a third of the nuns who were biopsied had brains riddled with these abnormal proteins, amyloid and tau, but showed no signs of dementia. Conversely, some brains showed no signs of these proteins yet the nuns displayed many dementia symptoms.

So solving the AD disease has a long way to go. Misdiagnosis is not unusual. The singer/actor Kris Kristoferson ( A Star is Born) was originally diagnosed with AD because of his memory issues. The drs thought this was brought about by repeated concussions he received many yrs ago. After living for yrs with this tragic diagnosis, a doctor screened Kris for lime disease. It came back positive. Lime disease is treatable and totally recoverable. AD is terminal.

Thanks for posting this, I was surprised but pleased that I was able to play the video here - it was nice to be able to check in with the study again and see the participants. Even more than before this study shows that the mystery of dementia is still very much unsolved.

I have read of the presence of amyloid plaques in people who didn't have Alz. There are still a lot of unanswered questions with Alz. particularly, I think.