Married to Memory Loss?

GENETICS

There may be hope for discovering the cause of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers in Israel have a new hypothesis on the biological source of the memory-impairing disease. Since 1995, neurologist Robert Friedland, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University, and a team of researchers have collected data in Wadi Ara, an Arab community where Alzheimer's occurs 20% more often than in the general population.

Prior research pointed to a mutated gene called apo-E4. But Friedland's investigation, published recently in Neurology, revealed that only 4% of the residents carried the gene. Now he's focusing on recessive genes, which have traits that are inherited only when both parents carry them--a viable hypothesis considering the high incidence of marriage within extended families in Wadi Ara.

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"So far, there are four different genes that can alter risk of Alzheimer's," says Friedland, whose team is continuing efforts to pinpoint these genes. Still, Friedland is keeping an open mind. "We are still working to control [other factors like the] environment."

Tags: alzheimer's, brain, case western reserve, case western reserve university, disease researchers, environment, extended families, genes, genetics, hypothesis, Israel, Memory, neurologist, prior research, western reserve university

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