Neuroscience: Young Blood Plasma Administration in  Alzheimer's Disease

When I was two years old, my brother was born at 24 weeks with several medical conditions, including cerebral palsy and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. For his survival, growth, and development, he needed to be seen by several specialists and therapists; I attended most of the appointments with him. After seeing the impact of these doctors and how they helped my brother, I developed a passion for medicine. Capstone gave me the opportunity to explore my interest in the field and narrow it down to neuroscience, then even further to neurodegeneration. I studied various topics in the field, including traumatic brain injuries and repercussion models, prion degenerative diseases like Creutzfeldt-Jakob's Disease, and finally Alzheimer’s and other dementias.

I was curious to see what treatments and cures medical professionals developed, and was surprised to find that no cure has been found for AD. Furthermore, very few drugs have been approved by the FDA to slow progression. This information, along with additional guidance from professionals I interviewed, led me to the treatment of parabiosis and young blood plasma administration. 

Through my literature review and the research, I concluded that young blood plasma administration can be a viable cure for AD, with additional assistance from a separate treatment for Amyloid-Beta plaques. At the conclusion of my writing process for the review, I decided to take my project a step further by working with AD patients. In order to understand the disease better, I worked with founders of Kemper House, an Alzheimer’s care facility, to survey caregivers and family members to understand their opinions and to develop a more patient-specific understanding of the disease. In the future, I plan to continue this work and explore other possible treatments for the disease.