Over 40 new genes linked to Alzheimer’s identified in ‘major leap forward’ in finding a cure
MORE than 40 new genes linked to Alzheimer’s have been identified.
That is more than double the previous total, with 75 sections of DNA now implicated in the brain-wasting condition.
The findings could help develop an accurate risk test before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear.
A study in Nature Genetics identified 75 genes linked to a greater risk of dementia, including 42 not known about.
Scientists compared the DNA of 100,000 people with the disease and 600,000 healthy adults.
A million people in Britain will be living with dementia in just three years’ time.
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Despite it being the UK’s biggest single killer, there is still currently no effective treatment to tackle the brain-wasting disease.
Prof Julie Williams, of Cardiff University’s UK Dementia Research Institute, said: “This is a major leap forward in our mission to understand Alzheimer’s and ultimately produce treatments needed to delay or prevent the disease.”
Researcher Dr Rebecca Sims said: “This study more than doubles the number of identified genes influencing risk for the more common form of Alzheimer’s disease.
“It provides exciting new targets for therapeutic intervention and advances our ability to develop algorithms to predict who will develop Alzheimer’s in later life.”