CLEVELAND — A first-of-its-kind brain study is happening at the Cleveland Clinic.
The goal of the study is to understand better why millions of people around the world suffer from brain diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia.
Doctors hope to diagnose and prevent the diseases before symptoms develop.
This is the largest study ever for brain disease and will be conducted over a 20-year period. The clinic plans on collecting data from 200,000 people.
For this study to be successful, Dr. Imad Najm said they need representation from everyone in the community.
"We cannot have a study about one single group and generalize for others with so similar at the same time. There are so many differences in our susceptibility to certain diseases that we need to take into account," Najm said.
Najm said communities of color are hesitant to participate in the study simply because of the lack of information available about the effects the diseases could have on them.
"What we are trying to create multiple outreach efforts that include go into the communities, to the churches, go into the community centers, reaching out to the council, men, and women in their communities to have the opportunity to sit down and talk about what's going on," Najm said.
Volunteers do not have to be current Cleveland Clinic patients. To sign up, click here.
This article was written by Courtney Shaw for WEWS.
