Alzheimer's risk higher if mother had the disease

Recent research adds more weight to growing evidence that if one of your parents has Alzheimer's disease, the chances of inheriting it from your mother are higher than from your father.

Alzheimer's disease has a strong inherited component. People who have first-degree relatives (parents and siblings) with Alzheimer's disease are four to 10 times more likely to get the disease themselves compared to people with no family history.

Researchers in America studied 53 dementia-free people age 60 and over who were followed for two years. None of the participants had dementia when they were recruited nor did they show the signs of mental decline that can be an early indicator of the disease. Eleven had a mother with Alzheimer's, 10 had a father with Alzheimer's and the rest had no family history of the disease. The researchers created three-dimensional maps of the brains of these subjects using a technology called voxel-based morphometry, to look at the different regions of the brain.

Brain scans after 2 years showed that people with a mother who had Alzheimer's disease had twice as much gray matter shrinkage in key brain regions (parahippocampal gyrus and the precuneus) as the groups who had a father or no parent with Alzheimer's disease. Brain shrinkage is a characteristic of the age-related disorder. Those with a maternal history of Alzheimer's also had one and a half times more loss in whole brain volume each year compared to those with a paternal history or no family history of the disease. A small amount of brain shrinkage with each passing year is common among older adults and not necessarily a sign of Alzheimer's. However, with Alzheimer's, the atrophy occurs much faster.

Researchers don't know what the Alzheimer's-related inheritance from mothers is, but they theories that it may have something to do with mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria, which generate the energy that cells use to function, are inherited only from mothers.

The above findings are consistent with other studies that suggest there is something inherited from mothers that influences risk more so than what is passed down through fathers. However, larger studies are needed to confirm the findings as understanding how the disease may be inherited could lead to better prevention and treatment strategies.


Read more at: http://doctor.ndtv.com/storypage/ndtv/id/5030/Alzheimers_risk_higher_if_mother_had_the_disease.html?cp