How hundreds of religious sisters contributed to ‘groundbreaking’ 30-year Alzheimer’s study

Thecontributionofnearly700Catholicreligioussisterstoa“groundbreaking”decades-longstudyonAlzheimer’sanddementiacontinuestoofferimportantinformationformaintaining“cognitivehealth”acrossthelifespan,researcherssay. Launchedin1986byneurologistDavidSnowdon,the“NunStudy”produced“seminalfindings”on“cognitiveimpairmentandrelatedneuropathologies,”researcherssaidinahistoricalreviewpublishedatAlzheimer’s&Dementiajournallastmonth. KyraClarke,adoctoratestudentatUTHealthSanAntonioandoneoftheauthorsoftheFebruaryreview,saidSnowdonoptedtouseCatholicsistersforthemonumentalstudyafterhe“realizedthatstudyingnunscamewithmanyadvantagesfordementiaresearch.”  “Normally,it’shardtopinpointwhatcausessomepeopletodevelopdementiawhileothersremainhealthybecausepeoplecanhaveverydifferentlifestyles,environments,andbiology—somesmoke,somedon’t;somehavebetteraccesstohealthcarethanothers;somemaybemoregeneticallydispos