Documentary highlights research advances

Rush University Medical Center's nationally recognized Alzheimer's disease center is featured in a new HBO documentary that showcases advances in Alzheimer's research.

David Bennett, MD, director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and a leading expert on Alzheimer's disease, and Julie Schneider, MD, MS, an associate professor of neurology and neuropathology, are featured in "Momentum in Science" -- the third of a four-part series.

The documentary first aired in May 2009 on HBO and can be viewed online at www.hbo.com/alzheimers. Two years in the making, "Momentum in Science" details the current explosion of knowledge within the scientific and medical communities by highlighting the work of 24 scientists across the country, from imaging the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s, to understanding the roles that genetics and lifestyle might play, to the tremendous progress being made in the effort to develop drugs to treat or even prevent the disease.

"The Alzheimer’s Project" also includes 15 short supplemental films available online and a companion book. Bennett and colleagues from Rush are also featured in the supplemental film, "Cognitive Reserve: What the Religious Orders Study is Revealing About Alzheimer’s," an in-depth look at the emerging concept of cognitive reserve, which is the brain’s capacity to overcome the pathology of Alzheimer’s, that could revolutionize how Alzheimer’s patients cope with the disease.

Researchers are using the information from these studies to discover factors that contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other common conditions of aging.

Studies on Alzheimer’s conducted at Rush have received worldwide attention. Studies have looked at how certain characteristics such as loneliness, social isolation, conscientiousness, psychologic distress, cognitive activity, education-level, purpose-in-life, mobility, declining body mass and difficulty identifying odors may affect someone’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.