Pictured above: 75 members of the Bourgeois family at the Walk/Run to Remember on Oct. 27th, 2007.
This past weekend, the Mayo Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Jacksonville, Florida, visited the small Louisiana town of St. Amant to facilitate an Alzheimer's research study on over 200 "big, bad" Bourgeois family members (including 3 generations).
Why the Bourgeois family? Because within this large family, 9 of 12 siblings in the first generation were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
This particular study centers on finding a correlation with a gene and Alzheimer's disease; and the Bourgeois' clan wanted to do their part in helping find a cure for the disease.
Francine Parfitt, a researcher with the Mayo Clinic, said that this was the largest family they've studied at one time - and they have studied over 70 families so far. This study consisted of having your blood drawn, then if you're over the age of 55, answering cognitive memory questions (i.e. What parish do you live in? Who is the current president?) The researchers will follow up with several of the family members by calling and asking more cognitive questions over the next few years.
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1 comment:
It's a wondeful thing that this family is willing to step and and have so many donate blood samples for research. By making the information regarding the study public they give those who cannot speak a voice and hope for the future.
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