Q: Is Alzheimer's disease hereditary?
A: In some cases, it can be - but it is rare. Scientists who study the genetics of Alzheimer’s distinguish between “familial Alzheimer’s disease,” which runs in families, and “sporadic Alzheimer’s disease”, where no obvious inheritance pattern is seen. Most Alzheimer's patients experience the sporadic form known as late onset Alzheimer's. This form of the disease is not a hereditary disease, from what researchers know.
Familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD) or early-onset Alzheimer’s is an inherited, rare form of the disease, affecting less than 10 percent of Alzheimer’s disease patients.
The majority of Alzheimer’s disease cases are late-onset, usually developing after age 65. It is important to reiterate: Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease has no known cause and from what researchers know, this form of thid disease shows no obvious inheritance pattern.
Dr. Maurizio Grimaldi heads the Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience Laboratory at Southern Research Institute.
Read his full biography