Study of Protective Gene Variant Provides Insight into Delaying Onset of Alzheimer’s Dementia Posted on July 18th, 2024 by Dr. Monica M. Bertagnolli

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2024/07/18/study-of-protective-gene-variant-provides-insight-into-delaying-onset-of-alzheimers-dementia/ Alzheimer’s disease is currently the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. While your likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s-related cognitive impairment increases with age, risk for this disease and age of its onset depend on many factors, including the genes you carry. An intriguing new study suggests that having just one copy of a protective gene variant may be enough to delay cognitive impairment from this devastating disease in individuals who are otherwise genetically predisposed to developing early-onset Alzheimer’s dementia.