Study: Risk Diminishes If You Make It Into Late 90s Without Alzheimer's

People who make it into their late 90s without Alzheimer's may be at a lower risk of developing the disease thereafter than younger people, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

The findings even apply to those who inherited two versions of the APOE-e4 gene variant, one from each parent. People with one and especially two copies of APOE-e4 of the gene variant are typically at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to the researchers.

Researchers evaluated 3,308 male and female residents of Cache County, Utah who were age 65 and older.

The incidence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease increased almost exponentially until ages 85 to 90, but declined after age 93 for men and 97 for women, the researchers reported in the journal Neurology.

"The presence of APOE-e4 gene variant accelerated the onset of Alzheimer's disease, but did not appreciably alter lifetime incidence apparent over a span of 100 years," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: Neurology