The NC Registry for Brain Health, funded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, has reached its goal of enrolling 10,000 participants by 2023! To date, there are more than 11,000 members enrolled who represent a broad range of ages (18+), races, ethnicities, and regions of the state.

Why is this important?

The number of North Carolinians affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders is growing. According to a recent Alzheimer’s Association report, 180,000 people in North Carolina were living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2020. By 2025, the number is expected to grow to over 210,000 people affected across the state—a 16.7% increase over five years. The NC Registry is working to change this future outlook for dementia by connecting people across the state with resources to prevent and manage memory disorders.

The NC Registry is a valuable and free source of information for participants to learn about ways to promote their individual brain health, lower their risk of dementia, find support for caregivers, and learn about opportunities to participate in research studies supporting brain health. For researchers leading studies in the area of brain health, the NC Registry helps connect potential participants to studies to ensure that the work to promote brain health includes and reflects North Carolina’s diverse communities.

Together, the NC Registry’s participants and researchers are supporting brain health research that could lead to a brighter tomorrow for all of us.

Researchers have found that some people age slowly, only experiencing a few months’ worth of physical aging in a year, while others age more quickly, in effect, growing years older in just one calendar year. This may help explain why one 50-year-old might appear to be in their 30s while another seems closer to 70. This pace of aging is referred to as biological age which is different than chronological age or number of years a person has been alive.

Duke scientists recently discovered that the pace of aging may also serve as a powerful predictor of an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive decline. Read more here

A recent study funded by the National Institute on Aging and conducted at several sites across the U.S. found that increased altruism or willingness to give away money (such as charitable donations) is associated with decreased cognitive function and may be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease. Limitations of the study point to the need for further research. Read more here.