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Alzheimer’s will be treated or even prevented by replacing faulty genes, an expert in the disease has predicted.
Men and women could be given a nasal spray packed with healthy versions of the defective genes that cause the illness.
Professor Julie Williams, of Cardiff University, said the entire population could eventually be screened in middle-age to identify those at most risk of the memory-robbing disease.
They could then be given cutting-edge gene therapy and other treatments to stop the disease ever developing.
Gene therapy: Men and women could be given a nasal spray packed with healthy versions of the defective genes that cause Alzheimer's
Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affect more than 800,000 Britons, with the number expected to double in a generation as the population ages.
Existing drugs delay the progress of Alzheimer’s, but their failure to tackle the underlying cause in the brain means that the effect quickly wears off and the disease soon takes its devastating course.
The professor, who was given a CBE in the Queen’s birthday honours last year for her work on Alzheimer’s, made the prediction after jointly leading the biggest-ever study into the genetics of the disease.
The landmark study, involving more than 180 researchers from 15 countries, pinpointed 11 genes that raise the risk of Alzheimer’s.
The size of the collaboration allowed them to identify more genes in less than three years than have been found in the past two decades.
By taking the total to 21, it also more than doubles the number of known Alzheimer’s genes, the journal Nature Genetics reports.
Alzheimer’s charities said the ‘exciting’ discovery of genes linked with the disease ‘opens up new avenues to explore in the search for treatments for the condition’.
Screening: Professor Julie Williams says the entire population could eventually be screened in middle-age to identify those at most risk of the disease
The new genes were found by comparing the DNA of more than 25,000 people suffering from Alzheimer’s with that of 48,000 people without the disease.
Professor Williams, who is chief scientific adviser to the Welsh Assembly in addition to being a working researcher, said: ‘What surprised us most about the findings was the very strong pattern that showed several genes implicating the body’s immune system in causing dementia.
‘Each individual gene will carry a relatively low risk but when you put all the information together, they are telling us an interesting and novel story and that takes us in a new direction.’
She added that the find needs to be followed up with ‘great urgency’ to determine just how the genes cause dementia. Knowing this will speed the search for new drug treatments.
Medicine: Existing drugs delay the progress of Alzheimer's, but fail to tackle the underlying cause in the brain
Professor Williams said: ‘I do think that in ten years’ time we might be looking at a genetic therapy. That might be feasible but not quite yet.
‘If you have variation that you know is contributing to a disease, the most effective way of reducing the risk is to change the variation in a very precise way. Genetic therapies will allow you to just change the elements that are contributing to the disease.
‘Drugs may not be precise and can cause side-effects.’
She added that ‘in the distant future’ everyone in their 40s or 50s could be screened for dementia genes and given genetic therapy and other treatments in a bid to stop the disease ever developing.
The study also suggested links between Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.
Professor Hugh Perry of the Medical Research Council, which part-funded the study, as did Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘Understanding how our genetic code contributes to Alzheimer’s disease, other dementias and neurodegenerative diseases is a crucial part of the puzzle in learning how we can prevent their devastating effects.’
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