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What if we could stop Alzheimer's before it ever starts?
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Source: Business Insider
Growing up in Guayama, a town nicknamed "witch city" in Puerto Rico, Maritza Ciliberto heard the rumors that her family was cursed. She didn't believe in curses, rejecting the idea that anyone could ever deserve to get sick, but she did believe there was something lurking in her relatives' brains — a "sleeping, giant monster" waiting to emerge. First, it came for her grandmother, who struggled with daily chores. Then her mother, who began repeating the same questions over and over. Eventually, her mother, two of her aunts, and one uncle died from a rare and inherited form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease due to a genetic mutation. Ciliberto knew she could be next. Now 57, she's lived past the age when her relatives began experiencing cognitive decline. And for more than a decade, she's been trying an extraordinary treatment, hoping to keep her mind intact.
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