A study led by researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University reveals a new link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer s disease.

Patients with Down syndrome who survive into adulthood often face the additional medical challenge of early-onset dementia, which is caused by a buildup of toxic plaques in the brain. The researchers were able to make a connection between a defect that occurs in an enzyme in patients with Down syndrome that also happens to malfunction in Alzheimer s disease.

Armed with the new knowledge, researchers believe that they will be able to develop a targeted therapy to safely mitigate dementia in patients with Down syndrome.