May 18, 2023 – People whose genes make them more prone to have certain kinds of high cholesterol and hypertension have a better risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, based on a brand new study.
The research is essential since it offers concrete ways to discover people at increased risk and will point scientists to treatment options to forestall the devastating disease. The study, a joint effort by European researchers, was published Wednesday within the journal JAMA network opened.
The authors concluded that individuals who had genetically elevated levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good” cholesterol) had a better risk of developing Alzheimer's. The researchers also found that individuals whose genetics were linked to higher systolic blood pressure were more prone to develop the disease. The higher an individual's HDL cholesterol level, or systolic blood pressure, the greater the danger of Alzheimer's in individuals who carried the affected genes.
The study was considered large-scale and included data from 39,106 individuals with Alzheimer's and one other 401,577 people without Alzheimer's, who were used as a comparison group within the evaluation. The DNA utilized in the study got here from the European Alzheimer & Dementia Biobank, which accommodates data from people in 11 European countries. The authors said the dearth of diversity in ancestry among the many people studied limited the outcomes.
Alzheimer's disease is probably the most common type of dementia and affects 6.5 million people within the United States aged 65 and older. According to the Mayo ClinicThe brains of Alzheimer's patients shrink and brain cells die. The progressive deterioration affects considering, behavior, social skills and the flexibility to live independently.
Previous research has linked levels of cholesterol and blood pressure to Alzheimer's risk, with mixed results, the study authors noted.
Researchers all over the world are working to know the causes of dementia, and plenty of studies have linked the progressive disease to each genetic aspects and modifiable lifestyle traits. An Alzheimer's expert on the University of Texas told CNN that this study needs its own context.
“Overall, I would say it supports the notion that low blood pressure can be good. And the fact that higher HDL levels raise some concerns about dementia, but there are many explanations for that,” Sudha Seshadri, MD, professor of neurology at UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, told CNN.
Seshadri, who was not involved within the research, said one possibility is that higher HDL levels of cholesterol may protect people from heart problems, which in turn may allow them to live longer and have more time to develop dementia.
“This is research that needs to be replicated and better understood. It's certainly interesting. But it's just information,” she said.