Doctors: the main causes of Alzheimer's disease are genetic

A recent study by Californian scientists has shown that genes play a key role when it comes to the occurrence of such severe brain diseases as Alzheimer's disease. As part of the study, scientists turned to the case histories of identical twins who suffered from this disease.

Identical twins are known to have the same DNA. Elderly twins, who were at the center of attention of American scientists, the disease proceeded in the same way. It progressed with the same speed, and the same parts of the brain were affected. The pattern was maintained even if the twins had differences in lifestyle.

“Manifestations of Alzheimer's disease in identical twins were almost identical. However, we paid attention not only to this disease, but also to other age-related changes in the brain. They also turned out to be identical in both twins,” says Margaret Gatz, a professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California.

In the study, scientists compared data on the state of the brain and the progression of the disease in seven pairs of twins. All patients eventually died from the effects of Alzheimer's disease. In most cases, the time difference between deaths was no more than two years. Doctors monitored patients for many years. Thus, one of the patients died at the age of 98 years, the other a year earlier.

Doctors have long known that the disease is caused by the formation in the human brain of so-called amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which in the process of developing the disease inhibit, and in the end completely paralyze his work. However, about why exactly plaques are formed and for what reason they occur in some and bypass others, scientists continue to debate.

California scientists, who published their latest research in the scientific journal Brain Pathology, propose to change the approach to determining the causes of the disease. Probably, to pull the trigger of a fatal disease, they will need several at once. In this case, the main prerequisite, I am sure Margaret Haz, is a genetic predisposition.

However, doctors do not advise older people to despair. Many cases have been recorded where even several risk factors do not immediately lead to the disease. An active lifestyle, physical and mental activity, as well as a healthy diet can, if not stopped, then slow down the approach of Alzheimer's disease.

Thousands of scientists around the world are engaged in the study of senile dementia, its treatment, diagnosis and prevention. And it is no coincidence: WHO warns that by 2025, 135 million inhabitants of the planet will suffer from this kind of diseases.