NEW YORK, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- theVisualMD, www.thevisualmd.com, the world's leading health visualization resource announces the release of its latest health initiative on Alzheimer's disease. theVisualMD creates educational health content using human data from a variety of medical scans – magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT) ultrasound, and confocal laser scans. The data is collected, digitized, and recompiled using volume-visualization software and utilized to detail health stories that have been developed with leading researchers and key opinion leaders in their respective fields.  "There is a great degree of confusion in the general public about the causes of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and age-related memory problems," said Rudy Tanzi, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease.  "This comprehensive educational initiative will go a long way to demystify these issues."

The cornerstone of the initiative is a unique digital e-booklet, titled What is Alzheimer's Disease? and begins with an admiring portrait of the marvel of the brain and the creation of the synaptic connections that constitute our identity. These connections form from before birth through adulthood, and are key to the creation of memory. theVisualMD learning module continues by describing what is known about the steps in the process of short- and long-term memory as it relates to brain function, and the structure of the areas involved, with attention to the types and anatomy of neurons that register and "hold" our memories. With brain volume depletion at a macroscopic level and cell architecture changes at the microscopic level (which are both visually presented in this e-booklet), Alzheimer's disease is distinguishable from normal aging.

This e-booklet delves into amyloid protein creation and clearance (or difficulties with clearance that are thought to play an underlying role in Alzheimer's), the damage to blood vessels caused by amyloid, and the possible (or potential) role played by tau proteins within neurons, which all contribute to neurological decline using extraordinary medical images that have never been seen before. The interactive module concludes with a look at the clinical stages of Alzheimer's disease and the demographic, genetic, and behavioral risk factors for developing the disease. With increased scientific understanding of the Alzheimer's disease continuum, early identification of cognitive impairment is of growing importance. Disease risk factors are also detailed in the final chapters of the e-booklet.

This e-book, created with the support of leading researchers in the field, is an elegant distillation of state of the art science from the biochemical to the clinical, written for the layperson who may have a loved one experiencing the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.

"It is terrific to see cutting-edge Alzheimer's disease research brought to life with creative visualizations, patient vignettes, and interesting commentary from multiple scientific viewpoints," said Reisa Sperling Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director, Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women's Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital.  "I am very excited to be a part of this initiative to help explain our current understanding of Alzheimer's disease in such a vivid, visual format."

"Alzheimer's disease is the most feared disease in the US for people over the age of 50, yet 62% of the population know little or nothing about it," says theVisualMD founder Alexander Tsiaras.  "We believe visualized health content will be one of the driving forces in building a common understanding for the physiological effects and early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease."  

Beginning Monday, October 24th, theVisualMD will be working with a consortium of media, advocacy, and corporate partners to distribute this content through online sites, blogs and social media channels.

Funding for this program has been provided by the Alzheimer's Immunotherapy Program (AIP) of Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy and Pfizer Inc. to theVisualMD. The program and content was planned and developed by theVisualMD and reviewed by the AIP for accuracy.

About theVisualMD

the Visual MD.com is the interactive website of Anatomical Travelogue, LLC, and offers a rich, visual experience to learn, understand, and interact with health content on the Internet.  theVisualMD.com is the world's largest library of high-resolution 3D scans of real human data. This massive collection is used to create one-of-a-kind visualizations with the most advanced 3D medical visualization technologies in the world.

Anatomical Travelogue, LLC is a medical imaging research and media production company based in New York City, which has been in business for 14 years. Our unique 3D visuals are the foundation and signature of all Anatomical Travelogue products, including books, websites, TV shows, and museum exhibits. We use visuals to tell stories and educate the public on topics and issues related to health and wellness.

theVisualMD contact:  
Eric Plaskonos
174 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
eplaskonos@thevisualmd.com

SOURCE theVisualMD