Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown developed a genetic risk score that may help pinpoint which adults are at Alzheimer’s risk decades before symptoms become apparent.

Alzheimer’s disease in one of the most destructive and challenging diseases of our time, affecting over 46 million people worldwide, and by 2050 this number will have risen up to 131.5 million.

The authors of the study say that the pathologic processes of Alzheimer’s disease are believed to occur for at least ten years before symptoms of the condition appear.

While the exact causes of the disease are still unclear, it is believed that genetics play a key role. For example, several studies have shown that people with a form of the APOE gene known as APOE e4 are at increased Alzheimer’s risk.

More details here.