Aside from TREM2, the only gene known to correlate to Alzheimer's is ApoE. Even though only about seventeen percent of all people have the variant form of this gene that leads to Alzheimer's, the affected gene accounts for about half the people who have been diagnosed. Studies of the variant TREM2 gene show similar results to those corresponding to the variant ApoE gene. Of the people examined for the research who were over 85, those who had the variant TREM2 without Alzheimer's showed findings of decreased cognition. Not only does the variant correlate to cognition, but it has a role in assisting the immune system as well.
Alzheimer's is always a scary possibility when thinking about aging in the future. Although I always knew it had to do with the loss of memory and some motor skills, I never knew exactly what the disease entailed. All the damage takes place in the brain, with the buildup of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, in addition to loss of nerve cell connections and death of these neurons. What I am still somewhat confused about is whether or not anyone in the world can develop Alzheimer's disease. Are the variant TREM2 and ApoE genes already in a person's DNA at birth (since some cases of the disease are considered to be inherited throughout a family), or can the genes change to become the variants as a person ages? As for the discovery of TREM2 and the gene's functions, I think it would be a great breakthrough for scientists to research this new information further in order to develop a treatment for the currently incurable disease.
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