Resources for caregivers, families and those
living with Alzheimer’s…click here for savings
and values from the line of products from
Amazon.
Blood inflammation plays role in
Alzheimer’s disease
Newswise — People whose blood shows signs of inflammation are
more likely to later develop Alzheimer’s disease
than people with no signs of inflammation,
according to a study published in the May 29,
2007, issue of Neurology®, the scientific
journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study, which is part of the larger Framingham Heart
Study, involved 691 healthy people with an
average age of 79. Blood tests determined
whether the participants had signs of
inflammation. Then the participants were
followed for an average of seven years. During
that time, 44 of the participants developed
Alzheimer’s disease.
The participants’ blood was tested for levels of cytokines,
which are protein messengers that trigger
inflammation. Those with the highest amount of
cytokines in their blood were more than twice as
likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as those
with the lowest amount of cytokines. A total of
28 percent of the women and 30 percent of the
men had high levels of cytokines, yet they made
up 42 percent of the cases of Alzheimer’s
disease.
“These results provide further evidence that inflammation
plays a role in the development of
Alzheimer’s disease,” said study author
Zaldy Tan, MD, MPH, of Harvard Medical
School in Boston. “The production of these
cytokines may be a marker of future risk of
Alzheimer’s disease.”
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the
National Institute on Aging, the Boston
University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, and the
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s
Framingham Heart Study.
The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more
than 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience
professionals, is dedicated to improving patient
care through education and research. A
neurologist is a doctor with specialized
training in diagnosing, treating and managing
disorders of the brain and nervous system such
as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy,
Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
For more information about the American Academy of Neurology,
visit
http://www.aan.com.
