The hunt for Alzheimer's genes

Sadly at present there is no known cure or preventative treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The disease causes a distressing, irreversible and progressive loss of brain function and memory. While there are a number of environmental and behavioral factors that are believed to contribute to Alzheimer's, genes also play a significant role and thus a great deal of research is focused on identifying the specific genes associated with Alzheimer's disease.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, more than 17,000 gene variants were tested in 4,000 volunteers. Even know the study will not be published until next month:

Several genes were found to show evidence of contributing to Alzheimer' disease, the most interesting gene being 'GALP' which could affect the development of tangles within brain cells, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

Knowing the specific genes creates a knowledge base for the development of diagnostic tests and potentially new treatments.

Even though Alzheimer's is associated with the latest stages of life, it is a topic relevant to those much younger. It impacts elder care and early onset of Alzheimer's can affect people much younger. Furthermore, it can affect 50% of those over 85. If other words, if you plan on living past 85 then at current rates you face equal odds of developing the disease. This makes understanding risk factors (such as smoking) particularly important as early in life as possible not to mention progress on the hunt for a cure.

Source: Science Daily