by Jessica Hasson

For almost 20 years, over 675 elderly nuns between the ages of 75 to 102 have subjected themselves to extensive research to help better understand Alzheimer’s Disease and how it works.

The appropriately dubbed ‘Nun Study’ officially began with 678 participants from the Notre Dame congregation. The study, led by Dr. David Snowdon, administers on-site annual assessments and interviews of the Nun’s mental and physical health, and after passing, the nuns donate their brains for research into the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.

“I feel that taking part in this study is for my present well-being, and it promises to improve my life condition,” Sister Columbine said in a recent telephone interview. “The interviews allowed me to explore areas in my life which, until then, I was totally unaware existed,” Sister Columbine said. “And the memory tests showed me that my memory is still keen.”

The Nuns Study represents the largest brain donor population in the world, and acts an ideal base for study because of the Nun’s solemn lifestyle. According to the Study’s Web Site, “many factors that confound (or confuse) the findings of other studies are either eliminated or minimized because of the relatively homogeneous adult lifestyles and environments of these women.

Participants in this study are non-smokers, drink little if any alcohol, have the same marital status and reproductive history, have lived in similar housing, held similar jobs, and had similar access to preventive and medical care.”

In 1957, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed “to be an organ donor means to carry out an act of love toward someone in need, toward a brother in difficulty. It is a free act of love that every person of good will can do at any time and for any brother.”

The Nun’s of Notre Dame have taken this decree to heart.

“My impression of the sisters whom I first met in 1985 when I began the study has not changed,” says Snowdon. “It shattered all my stereotypes of how 80- and 90-year-old people are supposed to behave. They seem so mellow after a lifetime of contemplation. They are living saints and sages.”

“The Nun Study is an ongoing, one-of-a-kind resource for the study of brain diseases in the elderly. We expect that data, tissue, and genetic material collected in this study will be used by scientists for decades into the future.”

The Nun Study is located at: http://nunstudy.org

Dr. David Snowdon has written a book on his studies of the Nuns. There is an excert of the book here - Link, and you can purchase a copy of the book through Amazon here - Link.

Resources from AGIS.com:

Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

On-going Reasearch on Alzheimer’s

Filed under: Alzheimer's