Rankin and her team focused on a a specific type of neurodegenerative disease called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, a group of disorders in which patients can experience behavioral symptoms such as personality changes, a loss of inhibition and social tact as well as language difficulties, such as an inability to understand words.

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The disease, which occurs when the body lacks the ability to produce a specific type of collagen, is so rare that few treatments exist.

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Other studies have focused on specific conditions affecting the most Americans, things such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and depression.

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