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Avoiding dementia could be hereditary

Thursday 16th August 2012
Avoiding dementia could be hereditary
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Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are two illnesses that many people fear with the thought of slowly starting to lose their memory being seen as a daunting eventuality, however new research has shown that avoiding these ailments could be something that runs in the family.

A study published in the latest online issue of Neurology, a medical journal from the American Academy of Neurology, by researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, has found that those people that are free from dementia as well as displaying high levels of protein within their systems are likely to have relatives that are also able to avoid the disease. The researchers noted that protein rates were linked to whether a person will have dementia later in life.

According to NHS statistics, dementia is a highly prevalent disease in England with an estimated 570,000 people currently living with the condition, but experts believe that the figure will double over the next 30 years.

The team conducted a series of tests that measured levels of the substance within a person focusing on a group of male veterans aged 75 and over with no forms of dementia.

Following the tests, the collective were than interviewed regarding the status of their family to see whether with the memory loss illness was present within their relatives. Of the 1,329 parents and siblings that were related to the subject group, only 40 individuals within the 37 families were found to be, or had been, suffering with dementia.

Researchers noted that the results showed that those who had higher levels of protein within their system were 30 per cent less likely to come into contact with any form of dementia.

Jeremy M Silverman, the lead author of the study, said: "This protein is related to worse cognition in younger elderly people. Thus, for very old people who remain cognitively healthy, those with a high protein level may be more resistant to dementia. Our study shows that this protection may be passed on to immediate relatives."

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written by Megan SmithADNFCR-1780-ID-801430657-ADNFCR

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