Genetic test shows risk of cognitive impairment rather than Alzheimer’s

04/2013

Analysis of data from 418 older adults (70+) has found that carriers of the ‘Alzheimer’s gene’, APOEe4, were 58% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment compared to non-carriers. However, ε4 carriers with MCI developed Alzheimer’s at the same rate as non-carriers. The finding turns prevailing thinking on its head: rather than the gene increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, it appears that it increases the risk of MCI — and people with MCI are the main source of new Alzheimer’s diagnoses.

In this regard, it’s worth noting that the cognitive effects of this gene variant have been demonstrated in adults as young as the mid-20s.

The finding points to the benefit of genetic testing for assessing your likelihood of cognitive impairment rather than dementia — and using this knowledge to build habits that fight cognitive impairment.

http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/genetic-test-fails-to-show-alzhe...

[3370] Brainerd, C. J., Reyna V. F., Petersen R. C., Smith G. E., Kenney A. E., Gross C. J., et al.
(2013).  The apolipoprotein E genotype predicts longitudinal transitions to mild cognitive impairment but not to Alzheimer's dementia: Findings from a nationally representative study.
Neuropsychology. 27(1), 86 - 94.

Related News

A study involving 254 people with dementia living at home has found that 99% of people with dementia and 97% of their caregivers had one or more unmet needs, 90% of which were safety-related.

A new U.S. study suggests that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are markedly under-reported on death certificates and medical records. Death certificates tend to only provide an immediate cause, such as pneumonia, and don’t mention the underlying condition that provoked it.

It’s often argued that telling people that they carry genes increasing their risk of Alzheimer’s will simply upset them to no purpose. A new study challenges that idea.

11 new genetic susceptibility factors for Alzheimer’s identified

Understanding a protein's role in familial Alzheimer's disease

Analysis of data from 237 patients with mild cognitive impairment (mean age 79.9) has found that, compared to those carrying the ‘normal’ ApoE3 gene (the most common variant of the ApoE gene), the ApoE4 carriers showed markedly greater rates of shrinkage in 13 of 15 brain regions thought to be k

Analysis of data from more than 8,000 people, most of them older than 60, has revealed that, among the 5,000 people initially tested cognitively normal, carrying one copy of the “Alzheimer’s gene” (ApoE4) only slightly increased men’s risk of developing

Analysis of 700 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative has revealed a genetic mutation (rs4728029) that’s associated with people who develop Alzheimer’s pathology but don’t show clinical symptoms in their lifetime.

Analysis of brain scans and cognitive scores of 64 older adults from the NIA's Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (average age 76) has found that, between the most cognitively stable and the most declining (over a 12-year period), there was no significant difference in the total amount of amy

A pilot study involving 94 older adults, of whom 18 had Alzheimer’s, 24 had

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news