Centre for Policy on Ageing



Genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease — advising relatives
Author(s)	M B Liddell, S Lovestone, M J Owen
Journal title	The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 178, January 2001
Pages	pp 7-11
Keywords	Dementia ; Biological sciences ; The Family ; Screening.
Annotation	Clinicians are increasingly asked by relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to advise on their genetic risk of developing AD in later life. The authors carried out a selective review of the key literature on the genetic epidemiology of AD. Currently a DNA diagnosis is attainable in some 70% of families with autosomal dominant AD. In first-degree relatives of most cases, risk is increased some three- or four-fold relative to controls, but only one-third of this is realised in the average life span. Apolipoprotein E genotyping cannot be used as a predictive test and confers only minimal diagnostic benefit. Pedigrees with familial AD should be referred to a Regional Centre for Medical Genetics. Accurate risk prediction is not possible in the vast majority of pedigrees with AD, although it is possible for the psychiatrist to give a rough estimate of the risk which can reasonably be couched in reassuring terms. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010220201 A
Classmark	EA: Y7: SJ: 3V
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