Thank you for your generosity in making a donation in memory of Edith Malnick! She had advanced dementia. Her family donated her precious brain to help others by enabling medical research.

Dementia is an umbrella terms that refers to memory impairment and cognitive impairment that is severe enough to effect someone's activities of daily living, performance at work, or ability to cope in social situations. There are over 100 types of dementias.  For most, there is no known cause, treatment, or cure. The symptoms are dependent on where in the brain the pathology is present. Also, for someone Edith's age, there are likely to be multiple pathologies present in the brain. This makes the diagnosis of a particular dementia very challenging for neurologists and other physicians.

The most common dementia is Alzheimer's Disease.  Second most is vascular dementia, which is caused by strokes or vascular problems. There are many more, including Lewy Body Dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, and Corticobasal Degeneration. The number one risk factor for most dementias is age.

The only way to confirm a diagnosis and to know the exact type of dementia is for the brain to be examined after death. Wonderfully, Edith Malnick's family wanted to donate her brain to help others. Her family contacted Brain Support Network just before her passing to make the arrangements. Her family felt strongly about enabling research into dementia -- whatever type Mrs. Malnick is found to have had. Mrs. Malnick's precious brain is being donated to the Mayo Clinic, a leading US medical facility for research into many types of dementia. This generous act helps us all because we all benefit from the medical research that such a positive donation enables. Brain donation is the key to finding a cause, treatment, and cure for dementia and other neurological disorders.

Brain Support Network welcomes tax-deductible donations in memory of Edith Malnick. Charitable contributions allow us to organize brain donations for other families deaing with dementia or any neurological disorder. We have helped over 150 families since 2007. Donations can be made by credit card online here or by check mailed to Brain Support Network, PO Box 7264, Menlo Park, CA 94026.

Thank you for your generosity!