Monday, April 25, 2011

Thank you to those who help research Down syndrome

Thanks to the leadership of NJ Governor Christie's wife, Mary Pat Christie, by promoting "Light the Way" an initiative of Research Down Syndrome to call awareness to Down syndrome research projects in the USA, several "first spouses" of our nation's governor's lit their residences in blue on March 21, World Down syndrome Day. Because of efforts like this we have more funding for research to help people with Down syndrome develop their potential.
Here's a bit about Research Down syndrome:

Research Down Syndrome is a non-profit foundation that supports and funds Down syndrome cognitive research conducted at leading institutions that are studying the basis of the intellectual impairments associated with Down syndrome, including Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, The University of Arizona, University of California, San Diego, and University of Colorado. Recent scientific advances have revolutionized this field of research, providing for the near term development of targeted medical therapies to treat the cognitive challenges associated with Down syndrome, improving memory, learning and communication, expanding and enhancing life opportunities, for people of all ages with Down syndrome. Research Down Syndrome is a legal corporate entity, and is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization designated by the Internal Revenue Code. For more information, please visit www.researchds.org, or contact RDS at info@researchds.org, or 877.863.2121.
Watch their amazing video on Down syndrome research here. 

This Saturday, I had the delight ordering decaffeinated Green Tea capsules for Christina from the health food store, knowing that research results in Spain had already proven their effectiveness.Thank you to the Jerome Lejeune Foundation for the first ever effective therapy for improving the cognition and learning. of people with  Down syndrome.
In France, Jean Delabar, a researcher at the CNRS in Paris, used another method consisting of acting directly on the Dyrk1A gene on chromosome 21. Because it exists in 3 copies, this gene functions excessively, so the aim was to diminish its activity, which Jean Delabar succeeded in doing by injecting a natural inhibitor in the mice, namely a molecule derived from green tea. In Barcelona, Pr. Mara Dierssen successfully carried out a pre-clinical trial with this molecule on ten adult patients aged 20 to 30. She is now preparing a clinical trial on 100 patients.

Read about the research with Green Tea in Barcelona at this link.
May this be only the beginning of a growing trend!

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