"Nobel-prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez once wrote of a mythical town in the middle of the jungle whose residents suffer from a mysterious affliction that erases their memories. Today, in a region of Colombia called Antioquia, (near the capital of Medillin) reality appears to be imitating fiction."

On Sunday, November 27, correspondent Leslie Stahl (shown at the left with families she interviewed) covered a remarkable story. Produced by Shari Finkelstein, the story takes place in Antioquia, Colombia. It happens to be the home to the largest concentration of people who carry a very rare genetic mutation that guarantees early onset Alzheimer's (at approximately age 40) in the world. This genetic mutation makes these people 100 percent certain to develop Alzheimer's disease, leading to death about 10 years later.

What is a tragedy to these folks has led to a perfect situation for researching this disease and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a study that may possibly show how this disease is preventable!

Through a doctor's referral, a patient was sent to Dr. Francisco Lopera, a neurologist at the University of Antioquia, who had become the local authority on a rash of early-onset Alzheimer's cases in and around Medellin, Columbia. After meeting this patient, through investigation, Lopera learned that the man's father and grandfather had also lost their memories in their 40s. After more investigation, Dr. Lopera found a common theme.

The diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease is bad enough at age 70, but at 40 it is monumental. Due to the understanding of this direct link, researchers now have a way to test whether intervention in early years, before the symptoms occur, might halt the disease. This is promising news in the field.

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