USA: Chances are you'll get Alzheimer's if both parents have it!

CHICAGO (Associated Press - The Seattle Times), March 12, 2008: One parent with Alzheimer's disease is tough enough, but imagine the memory-robbing illness striking both parents — and knowing chances are high you'll get it, too. A University of Washington study of more than 100 families for the first time gauges the size of that risk. The study, in March's Archives of Neurology, found more than 22 percent of the adult children of 111 couples with Alzheimer's had the disease. Risk grew with age. Among children older than 60, more than 30 percent were affected. In those older than 70, nearly 42 percent had the disease. Prior studies have found a 6 percent to 13 percent prevalence among those older than 65. In the study, diagnoses were confirmed through medical records, autopsies and examination by researchers. The parents with Alzheimer's had 297 children who lived to adulthood and 67 of those children had Alzheimer's. Senior author Dr. Thomas Bird of UW said he was uncomfortable saying the normal risk tripled or quadrupled in people with two affected parents because the study was small and had no comparison group. "What I'm comfortable saying is that risk is increased and we're working on trying to find out what the magnitude is," Bird said. The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Bird disclosed he has a licensing agreement with Athena Diagnostics, which tests for a gene related to late-onset Alzheimer's. But Bird's accord involves genetic discoveries unrelated to Alzheimer's, he said, and the firm had nothing to do with the study. By Carla K. Johnson Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company