Alzheimer’s Disease may be Inherited from Mother’s
March 1, 2011 | In: Health Stories, Mental Health
A new study, published in the print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, seems to add to mounting evidence that Alzheimer's disease may be inherited from your mother if one of your parents has the disease. People whose mothers have Alzheimer's disease had twice as much gray matter shrinkage in certain brain regions as people whose fathers had Alzheimer's and people without a family history of the disease, according to researchers from the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
"It is estimated that people who have first-degree relatives with Alzheimer's disease are four to 10 times more likely to develop the disease themselves compared to people with no family history," said study author Robyn Honea, DPhil, of the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City.
Researchers looked at 53 people ages 60 and older without dementia for a period of two years. Eleven of them said their mothers had Alzheimer's, 10 reported a father with the memory-loss illness and 32 said they had no family history of the condition. The groups were given brain scans and cognitive tests throughout the study.
The researchers found that people whose mothers had Alzheimer's disease had about one-and-a-half times more whole brain shrinkage per year than those who had a father with the disease, the study said. Shrinking of these brain regions, or brain atrophy, occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
"Using 3-D mapping methods, we were able to look at the different regions of the brain affected in people with maternal or paternal ties to Alzheimer's disease. In people with a maternal family history of the disease, we found differences in the break-down processes in specific areas of the brain that are also affected by Alzheimer's disease, leading to shrinkage. Understanding how the disease may be inherited could lead to better prevention and treatment strategies," said Honea.
Honea also said her findings are in line with other previous research suggesting that Alzheimer's may be inherited by immediate family members.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.