Knoxville — The UT vs. Alabama game set for Saturday is also an opportunity to help raise money for people with Alzheimer's.
The Pat Summitt Clinic at UT Medical Center is hosting its All In Against Alzheimer's initiative.
You buy a shaker to cheer on the Vols, and the money goes to the clinic to help doctors research a cure.
"Here at the UT Medical Center, we've treated about 3,000 patients so far," Dr. Russ Langdon at UT Medical Center said. "Unfortunately, over the next ten years, that number is going to double. It's the sixth leading cause of death in the state. (It's) very devastating, but there is hope--and that lies in the research. The All In Against Alzheimer's collaboration with UT Athletics, the Vol Network, and UT Medical Center is one of the ways that we can provide funds for that research to help cure Alzheimer's."
Langdon said research shows Alzheimer's research is continuing to grow.
"Some of the symptoms...People think of is early memory loss," Langdon said. "Some of the research we're doing here is showing that some of the brainwave abnormalities that we pick up, are even before the memory loss. One thing we're doing here is early diagnosis, and hoping that with some new biomarkers and doing more tests, in a systems approach, we'll be able to diagnose early and to treat."
Steve Early with the Vol Network said the shakers are on sale across the state, including at Food City and Cracker Barrel.
They'll be on sale at Vol Village on game day Saturday for $5.