European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Laura Baenen the associated press William h. Frey la s Job is picking people s brains. Literally. A biochemist and keeper of the Ramsey foundation s brain Bank in St. Paul minn., Frey uses his collection to conduct research on the human brain in relation to alzheimer s disease and other neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Begun in 1978, the Bank a Quot deposits Quot have grown to about 1,400 specimens and include the brains of Frey s maternal grandmother and two of her siblings. The St. Paul Bank and the 1,800-specimen National alzheimer s disease brain Bank in Lajolla Calif. Are among the nation s largest collections of brains for research on alzheimer s disease the fourth leading cause of death in the United states. Frey 43, received st00,000 from the Minnesota legislature in the late t980s to study 200 medical assistance recipients diagnosed with dementia causing illnesses he would then conduct autopsies alter their deaths to study the effectiveness of diagnoses of poor people. He expects to Complete the study in Aboul live years having brain Bank researchers evaluate patients before they die is critical to alzheimer s research said Creighton Phelps senior vice president for medical and scientific affairs of the National alzheimer s association in Chicago. The Joseph and Kathleen Bryan alzheimer s disease research Center at Duke University medical Center in Durham n Chas collected More than 50 brains after evaluating the patients when they were alive the Center freezes the brains in liquid nitrogen within an hour of death. Quot logistically it s Tough to do elsewhere Quot said Mark Alberts a Duke readers action line neurology professor. The Minnesota brain Bank consists of several freezers at St. Paul Ramsey medical Center which hold about 700 specimens sectioned into about 10 pieces each in plastic bags. The others have been used up in medical research Here and around the country. A local user of the brain Bank is the new brain sciences Center a joint Federal state and private medical venture to study the human brain at the Minneapolis veterans administration medical Center. Frey receives brains from a nationwide network of about 250 pathologists aware of his work As research director Tor the St. Part Ramsey alzheimer a treatment and research Center which has a $350,000 budget this year he also receives about 130 suspected sufferer so brains a year from relatives longing to resolve the mystery and worried about others in their family with similar symptoms. There is no Way to be absolutely certain a patient has alzheimer s while living. Survivors hereditary concerns could be Well founded. A team of researchers at St. Paul Ramsey medical Center and the University of Minnesota reported in april a new connection Between heredity and alzheimer s and ruled out other factors in causing alzheimer s head injuries drug and alcohol abuse heart disease stroke and psychiatric disease. Still they said heredity in t the sole explanation. Frey speculates that an Quot inhaled toxin Quot could trigger alzheimer s in patients with an inherited predisposition to it but medical Center neurologist Mario Mendez has questioned that theory Mendez notes that alzheimer s patients have extensive degeneration in other parts of the brain. To speculates that an infection or some other unknown Lugger attacks brain cells needed for thinking memory and reasoning. Overall Frey said a we Are finding that about 23 percent of the people who Are told they have alzheimer s actually do not have alzheimer s at All but have some other disease. So this is a major problem in  Parkinson s disease multiple sclerosis Multi Infarct dementia or Many Small strokes brain tutors pick s disease and Creutzfeldt Jakob disease Are often misdiagnosed As alzheimer s. It has accounted for about 65 percent of All cases of dementia that Frey has seen. Frey knows from personal experience about misdiagnosis Quot i did no to know that i had any relatives with it when started doing it but it turns out that my Mother s Mother and her family have a fair amount of cementing illness Quot Frey said. When his maternal grandmother one of her Brothers and one of her Sisters died he had their brains sent to the Bank because he was concerned about the a hereditary consequences for himself Quot it turned out that some of them died with dementia due 1o Small strokes and a amps Wes Booher had been misdiagnosed. Actually one was misdiagnosed As having Parkinson s and alzheimer s and did no to have either the person had the dementia due to Small strokes. Others did have alzheimer Sas Well it was kind of a combination of things Quot he said. People have reasons besides the purely practical for sending him loved ones brains so they can be examined under a Microscope for cell loss and plaques and tangles the telltale signs of alzheimer s. Quot i think its comforting to families to know that in fact it was a real disease a real Concrete organic illness a he said noting the stigma associated with dementia one woman thought her husband had refused to speak to her before his death out of anger because she had put him in a nursing Home. But through a brain autopsy Frey Learned the Man had suffered Many Small strokes wiping out the area of his brain responsible for language Quot thai was something that was helpful to her to know Quot he said. Quot it Wasny to that he was mad at her it was the Guy could t  withdrawal turns to tale of woe it 1 1 a 1 rom civil service on april 8 Iii to Iho birth of my baby i worked at the 97th general Hospital. And processed out through the Frankfurt co civilian personnel Tolice i received paperwork to Send off so that i could inquest to withdraw my retirement fund and was told it would Only take a few weeks As of writing this letter i have not received my Check the first a Criess that co gave me was the wrong one. After two weeks i called the states to Cheek on the status and was told 1 had the wrong office if i had not called i would have wasted weeks Only to find out it was the wrong address i called co and Heidelberg civilian pay to try to and out what the delay is they could t Tel me anything so i asked Lor the phone number for the office in the states nobody could give me any phone number or any answers. I m in a financial bind waiting for this Check. It s not Ian that i have to beg people Lor information to track Down my own Money Debra a. Lihou Offenbach Germany be Audrey e. Marcinko personnel management specialist civilian personnel division to Usa eur replies there Are two methods to file for refund of retirement deductions. If you have been separated 30 Days or less the application Lor refund of retirement deductions of 1425 should be forwarded to the last employing Soltice personnel management 0pm because you had been separated More than 30 Days consequently pm personnel in Boyers a were the Only people who knew the status of your claim we have checked with pm and understand that your refund has been forwarded to you. Our pos have been encouraged to similarly follow up on future cases. When you Are separated More than 30 Days of 14 or should be forwarded to office of personnel Man gomen civil service retirement system employee sen. Ice and records Center Boyers a 16017. You forwarded you of 1425 directly to the Ottliee onto write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last  striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available if you have a question and done to know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Apo 09211-4211. Ail letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes tuesday september 24, 1991