Inheritance and Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease: Genetics Information
Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease:
AD tends to run in families; currently, mutations in four genes, situated on chromosomes 1, 14, 19, and 21, are believed to play a role in the disease. The best-characterized of these are PS1 (or AD3) on chromosome 14 and PS2 (or AD4) on chromosome 1. The formation of lesions made of fragmented brain cells surrounded by amyloid-family proteins are characteristic of the disease. Interestingly, these lesions and their associated proteins are closely related to similar structures found in Down Syndrome. Tangles of filaments largely made up of a protein associated with the cytoskeleton have also been observed in samples taken from Alzheimer brain tissue.
(Source: Genes and Disease by the National Center for Biotechnology)
About inheritance and genetics:
Inheritance of Alzheimer's Disease refers to whether the condition is inherited
from your parents or "runs" in families.
The level of inheritance of a condition depends
on how important genetics are to the disease.
Strongly genetic diseases are usually inherited,
partially genetic diseases are sometimes inherited,
and non-genetic diseases are not inherited.
For general information, see Introduction to Genetics.
