By Debra Kain

To many, Down syndrome (DS) is a child-hood condition. But improved health care means that individuals with DS now routinely reach age fifty or sixty, sometimes beyond. However, if they live long enough, people with Down syndrome are almost cer-tain to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Risk estimates vary, but the National Down Syndrome Society says that nearly 25 percent of individuals with DS over the age of thirty-five show signs of Alzheimer’s-type dementia, and this per-centage dramatically increases with age. Almost all develop dementia by the age of sixty.

“The more we learn about Down syn-drome and Alzheimer’s disease, the more we realize these conditions—one seen at birth, the other quite late in life—are two sides of the same coin,” said William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and a member of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging Chair’s Advisory Committee. “Autopsies of DS and AD brains reveal virtually identical pathologies: the same telltale amyloid plaques and neurofibril-lary tangles.”

Under the auspices of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), based at the UC San Diego School of Medicine, a new clinical study called the Down

Syndrome Biomarker Initiative (DSBI) was launched in March 2013. According to the study’s director, Michael Rafii, MD, PhD, medi-cal director of ADCS, its aim is to discover indicators of Alzheimer’s and study progression of the disease, with the ultimate goal of bet-ter understanding brain aging and AD in adults with Down syndrome.

The three-year pilot study has enrolled twelve participants, ages thirty to sixty. Participants will be screened for various biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease using tests that include three types of brain scans, retinal amyloid imaging, and blood tests, among others.

“Findings to date using MRI and amy-loid PET scans indicate that individuals with Down syndrome show the same brain patterns as those in the general population with the earliest stages of the memory-robbing disease, called prodro-mal AD,” said Dr. Rafii. He added that indications of increased brain amyloid deposition—the insoluble protein aggre-gates found in the brains of patients with AD that are thought to be an underlying

19500 GILMAN DRIVE # 0664 • LA JOLLA • 92093–0664

Stein Institute for Research on AgingSuccessful Aging

ONLINE AT HTTP://AGING.UCSD.EDU

EST. 1983

FEBRUARYFrank Benedikt Roehr Memorial Lecture: The Science and Practice of Happiness across the Lifespan

Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhDProfessor of Psychology, UC RiversideAuthor The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness

February 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.SPECIAL LOCATION: Lower Auditorium, Medical Education and Telemedicine (MET) Building

MARCHTablets, Computers, and Your Brain in the Digital Age

Ipsit Vahia, MDDirector of Research, UC San Diego Senior Behavioral Health Program

March 19, 2014, 5:30 p.m. Garren Auditorium, Biomedical Sciences Building, UC San Diego

FEBRUARY’S LECTURE

We are proud to announce that our February lecture is dedicated to Frank Benedikt Roehr. This endowed lecture series was the inspiration of Suzanne Angelucci as a memorial to her father and is intended to support public edu-cation by funding lectures that focus on topics related to aging.

What makes people happy? Is happi-ness a good thing? How can we make people happier? Please join us for February’s public lecture and learn

FEBRUARY 2014 • VOL. 6, NO. 5

FREE PUBLIC LECTURE

continued on page 2continued on page 2

UC San Diego Launches Unprecedented Down Syndrome Study

2

from internation-ally renowned expert Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, professor of psychology at UC Riverside.

Dr. Lyubomirsky’s two books, The How of Happi-

ness and The Myths of Happiness, have been published in more than thirty coun-tries. Her research on how people can become happier has been honored with a Science of Generosity grant, a John Templeton Foundation grant, a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and (with Kennon M. Sheldon, PhD) a

$1 million grant from the National Insti-tute of Mental Health. She received her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard University and her doctor-ate from Stanford University.

Dr. Lyubomirsky’s work has been written up in hundreds of magazine and news-paper articles, and she has appeared in multiple TV shows, radio shows, and feature documentaries in North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her family.

Free ParkingIn order to receive a free parking permit by mail, call (858) 822-7485 NO LATER THAN THE LAST FRIDAY BEFORE THE LECTURE. Note: If you have a disabled person placard, you do not need a permit and are allowed to park in any handicap or metered space

Directions to the Medical Education and Telemedicine (MET) Building from I-5 North or South• Exit onto La Jolla Village Drive West

(from I-5 North, turn left; from I-5 South, turn right)

• Turn right onto Villa La Jolla Drive (up the hill about 0.3 miles). Stay in left lane (the right lane is a turn lane). Go past the first light (the VA Medical Center will be on the right).

• At the next light, drive straight into the Gilman Parking Structure.

• From Gilman Parking Structure, cross the street toward the Stein Clinical Research Building.

• Walk across parking lot P602 and the lawn to the Medical Education and Telemedicine (MET) Building.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD

Free Public Lecturecontinued from page 1

Volunteers Needed for a Posture, Balance, and Falls Study

THE UC SAN DIEGO KYPHOSIS STUDY

cause of the disease—is similar in individuals with DS and those in the general population with AD.

People with amyloid deposition in the brain experience progressive cognitive deterioration. Brain atrophy—shrinking of the brain’s hippocampus—caused by the amyloid buildup, affects routine functional abilities, ultimately leading to complete physical disability.

“By understanding the progression of the disease in people with Down syn-drome and those in the general popula-tion, we hope discoveries can be made in each group that can be shared between both populations,” said Dr. Rafii.

The design of the DSBI pilot study is patterned after the Alzheimer’s Dis-ease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), which began in 2004 to establish neu-roimaging and biomarker measures of AD. ADNI tracked the changes taking place in the brains of eight hundred

Down Syndromecontinued from page 1

TESTING PROCEDURES

• Detailed postural assessments

• Bone mineral density

• Body composition

• Detailed balance measures

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Sixty-five years or older

• Male or female

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION

• Increased postural awareness

• Knowledge of your bone mineral density

• Understanding of your body composition

• Up to $75 in compensation

The purpose of this project is to determine how age-related postural changes affect balance dynamics and the risk of falls in older persons. For more information please contact Deborah Kado, MD, MS, Departments of Family and Preventative Medicine and Internal Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine, (858) 534-4309.

continued on page 4

3

Please tune in to UCSD-TV to watch the Stein Institute’s monthly lecture series.

Lectures air on

Cox (digital) Ch.135Time Warner San Diego and Del Mar (digital)

Ch. 135Time Warner Del Mar (analog) Ch. 19AT&T Ch. 99UHF (no cable) Ch. 35

Standing Tall as We Age: Latest Advances in Understanding the Aging Spine

What happens to bones as we age? What is kyphosis (also called roundback or dowa-ger’s hump)? What are its causes, symptoms, and treatment options? Join Deborah Kado, MD, MS, an associate professor in the De-partments of Family and Preventive Medicine and Internal Medicine at UC San Diego, as she makes sense of it all. Dr. Kado served on the UCLA faculty in geriatrics and orthopae-dic surgery before joining UC San Diego in 2012. Her primary research interest is un-derstanding the pathogenesis and adverse health outcomes associated with age-related changes in spinal posture. She is a successful researcher and is internationally recognized in her field.

This lecture will air at the following dates and times (Pacific time):

February 13 8:00 p.m. February 14 10:00 p.m

You may view our lectures at http://ucsd.tv/ stein. For additional information on viewing past lectures online or any other questions, please visit our website at http://aging.ucsd .edu or call (858) 534-6299. To purchase a video copy of a specific lecture seen on UCSD-TV, please visit http://ucsd.tv/stein or call (800) 742-5117.

PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES THIS MONTH ON UCSD-TVBy Maja Gawronska, MA

Natasha Josefowitz—friend of the Stein Institute, former Community Board of Advisors member, and contributing author

to this newsletter—turned to writing poetry after her husband of thirty-five years, Dr. Herman Gadon, died four years ago. This resulted in her latest book, Living Without the One You

Cannot Live Without: Hope and Healing after Loss, a beautiful collection of poems that embraces the pain and heartbreak of mourning, and the healing process.

“I was inspired to put my poems on paper by my own experience with the death of my husband, as well as grief I witnessed among so many of my friends. I endeavor to help others who are confronting an unimagi-nable end of a wonderful relationship,” said Dr. Josefowitz. ”I hope that Living Without the One You Cannot Live Without: Hope and Healing after Loss will offer solace and support to those who are bereft, and who will benefit from empathy and emotional connection as they work through their own grief to hope and feeling.”

Dr. Josefowitz calls herself a late bloomer, having earned her master’s degree at age forty and her doctorate at age fifty. She was on the faculty of the business schools at the University of New Hampshire and San Diego State University and taught the first course in the United States on women in management. Her efforts on behalf of women have earned her numer-ous awards, including the Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center. She has been named Woman of the Year many times by various national and international organizations.

Dr. Josefowitz is an internationally known consultant and speaker, having lived and

worked abroad and in the United States. For ten years, she had her own weekly radio broadcast and a weekly television segment. She has been a guest on numer-ous television shows, including Larry King Live and the Dr. Ruth Show.

She is a noted columnist and the author of twenty business and poetry books. Her articles have appeared in hundreds of mag-azines and journals, including the Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, and Psychology Today. She currently writes a bimonthly column for La Jolla Today and San Diego Jewish World. According to the Washington Post,

“Natasha Josefowitz is helping her genera-tion, and those that follow, find their way into a successful, meaningful older age . . . her optimism about aging is inspiring.”

Living Without the One You Cannot Live Without: Hope and Healing after Loss has been published in paper-back and for the Kindle. It can be ordered from Amazon and Barnes and Noble online.

Lost in the Periphery

After my husband died I was no longer the center of anyone’s life nor is anyone the center of mine family and friends are supportive and comforting but they are peripheral as I am peripheral in their lives they can continue without me as I am supposed to continue without him without the one person I cannot live without

Natasha Josefowitz, PhD

MEET THIS MONTH’S SUCCESSFUL AGER

Natasha Josefowitz, PhD

Printed on Recycled Paper1314-163

School of Medicine 9500 Gilman Drive # 0664 La Jolla, CA 92093-0664

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDSan Diego, CA

Permit No. 1909

Receive Your Newsletter by E-mail

Sign up at http://aging.ucsd.edu/subscribe.php or send an e-mail request to steininstitute@ucsd.edu and include your postal address and e-mail address. Your information will not be shared with any other institution.

For clinical trials at UC San Diego: http://health.ucsd.edu/clinicaltrials/

Please join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SteinInstitute.

StaffDirector: Dilip V. Jeste, MDDirector of Research and Development: Danielle Glorioso, LCSWDeputy Director of Community Outreach and Education: Kwi Bulow, MD Deputy Director of Translational Research: Cristian L. Achim, MD, PhDProgram Director: Maja Gawronska, MAExecutive Assistant: Sandra DorseyPresident, Stein Leadership Council: Susan Hoekenga, MPA, MSG

Dean’s (Chairs’) Advisory CommitteeGary Firestein, MD, Director, Clinical and Translational Research InstituteLewis L. Judd, MD, Chair, Department of PsychiatryBess Marcus, PhD, Chair, Department of Family and Preventive MedicineWolfgang H. Dillmann, MD, Chair, Department of MedicineWilliam Mobley, MD, Chair, Department of Neurosciences

Scientific Advisory BoardElizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, Epidemiology/ Family and Preventive Medicine Ruth Covell, MD, Family and Preventive MedicineJohn Daly, MD, MedicineLaura Dugan, MD, MedicineDouglas Galasko, MD, NeurosciencesPaul Insel, MD, MedicineDeborah Kado, MD, MS, Family and Preventive MedicineEdward H. Koo, MD, Neurosciences Eliezer Masliah, MD, Neurosciences/Pathology Christine Moutier, MD, PsychiatryDaniel T. O’Connor, MD, Medicine David Salmon, PhD, NeurosciencesStuart Lipton, MD, PhD, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, Neurosciences

Designed and produced by UC San Diego Creative Services and Publications www.publications.ucsd.edu

PHONE (858) 534-6299 WEB http://aging.ucsd.edu E-MAIL steininstitute@ucsd.edu

GIVING TO STEIN

Online Please visit http://aging.ucsd.edu and click on “Giving.”

Questions? Please call Danielle Glorioso, LCSW at (858) 246-0767 or e-mail dglorioso@ucsd.edu.

By Mail Please make your check payable to UCSD Foundation; write Stein Institute in the memo portion of the check and include a brief note specifying that you would like your donation to go to the Stein Institute. Mail your gift to the address below:

University of California, San Diego Health Sciences Department Sam and Rose Stein Institute for

Research on Aging 200 W. Arbor Dr. # 8982 San Diego, CA 92103-8982

older people, either free of symptoms or diagnosed with late-stage mild cognitive disorder and early Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our aim is for the Down Syndrome Biomarker Initiative to mirror ADNI’s suc-cesses,” Dr. Rafii said. “ADNI has helped the international Alzheimer’s research community learn significant lessons about the pathology and biomarkers of AD, which in turn has driven new ways of look-ing at the disease and new studies that we hope will lead to viable treatments. We are confident we can do the same thing for Down syndrome.”

The twelve-subject pilot study at UC San Diego is funded by Janssen Research & Development, LLC. The research is projected to expand into a five-year, one-thousand-subject interna-tional study.

Down Syndromecontinued from page 2