Verified by Married to Memory Loss?
Reports that researchers in Israel are studying genetics in finding
the source of memory loss in Alzheimer's disease. Method used in the
study; Genes that alter risk of Alzheimer's disease.
By Gabriel Berezin published January 1, 2001 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
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.
"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."
