by Frances Stanford

Created on: March 13, 2008   Last Updated: May 30, 2009

As with all potentially fatal diseases, everyone wants to know who is most at risk for Alzheimer's disease. This is because if there is a certain genetic disposition for the disease, those who may be at risk want to be prepared so they can research the possible treatments or make plans for their future. According to the experts, there is very little in the way of documentation to suggest which groups of people are more at risk than others. For the most part, age is the deciding factor. The older you get, the more possibility exists that you could be diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Simply forgetting things is not necessarily a symptom of Alzheimer's disease as everyone forgets things at some time or other. The incidences of Alzheimer's are very small when you consider the population of a country as a whole. In developed countries, only one in every fifty people between the ages of 65 and 70 are diagnosed with this disease.

In studying those diagnosed with Alzheimer's, scientists have concluded that those with high levels of education are the least at risk. They believe this to be because they have continually exercised their brain by studying and learning new skills and knowledge. Those suffering from arthritis are also thought to be less at risk but the real cause is not known. It is thought there is a connection between the use of the anti-inflammatory medications used to control the pain associated with arthritis.

Alzheimer's disease does not discriminate between men and women. There is some small semblance of evidence linking this disease to the presence of a protein found in the genes, which could mean there some people may have a genetic disposition for the disease. This protein apolipopritein, but there have not been satisfactory studies done on this to make a firm conclusion. However, it is known that when Alzheimer's disease develops before the age of 50, it is definitely because of heredity. Researchers have found those families with Chromosomes 21, 14 or 1, could be at risk for the early onset of Alzheimer's.

There are certain health factors that can increase your risk at getting Alzheimer's. These include hypertension and high cholesterol. These medical conditions are known to put people at higher risk of coming down with dementia because they decrease the amount of the blood supply to the brain.

Everyone is scrambling to understand this disease. However, at present, the only thing one can say is that everyone is at risk and that it does not discriminate between gender, race or culture.

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