In the United States, black Americans are more affected than whites by the late form of Alzheimer’s disease. Does this mean that people of color are at higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease? This is what researchers at Columbia Medical School in New York wanted to know by studying genetic mutations in this population. The results of their study of 6,000 black Americans were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. On the panel followed, 2,000 people developed the disease.
The researchers found that a specific gene variant doubles the risk in black people. “The ABCA7 gene undoubtedly reveals a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease in black Americans,” says Dr. Richard Mayeux, professor of neurology at Columbia Medical School in New York, the main author of this work. “ABCA7 is the first gene of major importance implicated in the late form of Alzheimer’s among black Americans”, adds Dr. Christiane Reitz, professor of neurology at the same university. This gene would run “a risk of developing the disease comparable to the APOE-e4 gene in whites, known for two decades”.
Alzheimer’s: excess cholesterol involved?
What is this famous ABCA7 gene for? Scientists are still wondering. One thing is certain, this gene is involved in the production of cholesterol and lipids. Blacks suffer more from cholesterol problems and of overweight than whites in the United States. This imbalance would favor the ABCA7 gene and therefore the greater vulnerability to Alzheimer’s disease among black Americans.
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