Study of chemical exposure, dementia risk funded by $11M NIH grant

By poring over decades worth of data, researchers hope to better determine how pesticides, metals, and exposures to other elements impact Alzheimer’s disease risk.

“We are striving toward understanding the origins of increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. If there’s an environmental link, we could encourage reduction of environmental exposures in early- and mid-life, decades before cognitive decline and other dementia symptoms,” said the study’s principal investigator, Aimin Chen, MD, PhD, a professor of Epidemiology at Penn. “The findings may also inform environmental health policymaking to potentially reduce instances of brain aging disorders.”