KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of exercise in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
It will be one of the first such studies in the country.
KU researchers hope to recruit healthy senior citizens to participate in a new trial known as the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program. Those involved in the study would be determined to be at a higher risk for the disease.
The selected participants would exercise by walking a treadmill regularly over a 12 month period. Upon completion of the trial, brain scans will be taken and studied to show whether the participants were at higher or lower risk for the disease.
More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, which is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States.
The Alzheimer’s Disease Center at KU is now recruiting healthy adults older than 65 to participate in the trial. If you are interested in learning more about the program, call (913) 588-0555.