Plaque Build-Up in Brain May Cause More Memory Decline than Having Alzheimer’s Gene

A new study shows that having a high amount of beta amyloid or “plaques” in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s may cause steeper memory decline in mentally healthy older people than does having apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 allele, which also is associated with the disease. The study is published in the Oct. 16, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“Our results show that plaques may be a more important factor in determining which people are at greater risk for cognitive impairment or other memory diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease,” says study author Yen Ying Lim, MPsych, of the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. “Unfortunately, testing for the APOE genotype is easier and much less costly than conducting amyloid imaging.” For more information, click here to read the full release.