U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, is picking up advocates for Down Syndrome research in support of his bill to help veterans.

Last week Coffman and Republican Reps. Pete Sessions of Texas and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington introduced H.R. 5191, the Medical Improvement of Neurodegenerative Diseases (MIND) Act.

If they can pass it, the bill directs the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to establish centers for Alzheimer’s disease research and education, potentially finding a link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Denver-based Global Down Syndrome Foundation applauded the bill.

Michelle Sie Whitten, its president, CEO and co-founder, said researchers believe all of the people with Down syndrome will have the brain pathology of Alzheimer’s by their 40s and most will develop dementia by their 60s.

“Clearly, it is essential that research on both conditions should be done in tandem,” she said. “Establishing new Alzheimer’s centers funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs will advance this research and, ultimately, improve the lives of millions of people with Down syndrome and millions of typical people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.”

The news was heralded Friday by the National Down Syndrome Society, as well.

Coffman said the VA estimates there are about 750,000 veterans with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. He said the average age of U.S. veterans is 58 years.

“Clearly, the VA needs to aggressively pursue promising scientific research efforts to treat or cure Alzheimer’s disease,” Coffman said in a statement. “Our veterans deserve it, said Rep. Mike Coffman. “Those with Down syndrome have a significantly increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Studying this connection, will help the VA better understand how Alzheimer’s progresses, why certain people are more susceptible to the disease, and perhaps lead to breakthrough treatments for Alzheimer’s and Down Syndrome.”

Coffman’s office said the VA spends more than $31 million on Alzheimer’s research, but none of it focuses on the connection with Down syndrome.

The legislation would designate at least three centers for research, and Colorado would have a leg up, given the work of such large, well-known benefactors as the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and world-class facilities such as the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Dr. Joaquin Espinosa, the Crnic Institute’s executive director, said the facility already is working to make federal funding a priority to help more than 400,000 people with Down syndrome and millions more globally.

“We have a team of great scientists, including Dr. Huntington Potter, the scientist who revealed a key mechanistic relationship between Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease,” Espinosa said.

“Research centers of excellence such as the ones that Rep. Mike Coffman is proposing will definitely move the field towards effective therapies or a cure for Alzheimer’s disease to benefit all society.”