ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE INHERITED THROUGH MATERNAL LINE, STUDY FINDS

A family history of Alzheimer's disease significantly increases the risk for developing this disorder, but a new study in Biological Psychiatry suggests that which of your parents has the disease is very important.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia in late-life, affecting over 5 million elderly in the United States alone. In order to develop preventative treatments, it is necessary to identify those individuals who are at highest risk for developing Alzheimer's.

Although individuals with a parental history of Alzheimer's are at increased risk for developing the disease, the specific biological and genetic mechanisms accounting for this increased risk are not known.

An important consideration may be a phenomenon called genomic imprinting, where the pattern of the inherited disease differs based on whether the risk genes are inherited from the mother or the father.

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SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY AFFECTS MYELIN GENES IN OFFSPRING

Smoking during pregnancy may interfere with brain development. New animal research shows maternal smoking affects genes important in the formation and action of a fatty brain substance called myelin that insulates brain cell connections.

The research was presented at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego.

The finding may explain why the children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, autism, drug abuse, and other psychiatric disorders. "Myelin deficits have been previously observed in adults with various psychiatric disorders," said Ming Li, PhD, of the University of Virginia, who directed the study.

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