Dementia more likely if mother had disease
4 March 2011
People are more likely to develop dementia if their mother had the disease than if their father had it, according to a study published in the journal Neurology (2011; 76: 822-29).
Having a first-degree relative (parent, child, brother or sister) with Alzheimer’s disease increases the risk of developing dementia by 4 to 10 times.
Now, a brain-imaging study of 53 people without dementia at age 60, followed up for 2 years, found those whose mother had dementia had twice as much grey matter shrinkage and 1.5 times as much whole brain shrinkage compared with those whose father had dementia or those in whom neither parent had the disease.
Last Reviewed: 04 March 2011
- 1. Honea RA, Swerdlow RH, Vidoni ED, Burns JM. Progressive regional atrophy in normal adults with a maternal history of Alzheimer disease. Neurology 2011; 76: 822-9. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31820e7b74. http://www.neurology.org/content/76/9/822.abstract (accessed Mar 2011).
Sponsored links
