A new study has found that a genetic predisposition towards high blood pressure and cholesterol may be linked to a possible increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the American “CNN” network, the new study included more than 39,000 people with Alzheimer’s disease and about 400,000 people without the disease, whose data were obtained from the records of the European Biobank for Alzheimer’s and Dementia, which tracked people in 11 countries in Europe. .
When the researchers compared the genetics of all the participants, they found that people with certain genes that cause increased levels of a type of cholesterol called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) had a slightly higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease. They also found a similar increased risk for people with genes responsible for high systolic blood pressure.
“The increase in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was about 10 percent for every deviation in cholesterol levels from the normal range,” the team wrote in the study, which was published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. We also found that for every 10 millimeters of mercury increase in systolic blood pressure, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s increased by 1.22 times.
The study did not find evidence that factors such as body mass index, smoking, or diabetes increase the odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Other studies looking only at lifestyle factors including obesity, smoking and diabetes – and not the genetic risk of these factors – have shown a link between them and a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s important to note, the researchers said, that although this is a large study, it cannot be generalized to the rest of the world because most of the participants were of European descent, and others may have different genetic factors associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists say more research needs to be done in this area.
The exact cause of Alzheimer’s is still not clear, and although medications are available to slow the progression of the disease, there is still no cure for it.
