Is Alzheimer's Disease a Dominant Gene?

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. Alzheimer's disease often leads to dementia which results in the loss of cognitive functions such as thinking, remembering and reasoning. People affected by this disease usually experience symptoms after the age of 60.

Causes

• Although scientists are still trying to figure out the exact causes of Alzheimer's disease, research published in the British Medical Journal states that one in three patients who suffer from this disease have a similarly affected direct relative. This suggests a pattern consistent with the effects of an autosomal dominant gene.

Other Factors

• Although it is likely that the causes are genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors have important impacts on events that take place in the brain. A healthy diet, exercise and mentally stimulating activity can help people stay healthy.

Genetics

• Gene mutations inherited from a parent cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease in very few families who develop the condition in their 30s through 50s.

Risk Factor Genes

• A study shared by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, a leading federal effort on aging research, states that studies have linked a gene called APOE ε4 to late-onset Alzheimer's. About 40 percent of all people who develop late-onset Alzheimer's disease carry this gene.

Fact

• Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 4.5 million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.