Maternal Alzheimer's Connection

My mother suffered from dementia for the last 20 years of her life, so I was alarmed to read a study published in Neurology  that suggests that if your mother had Alzheimer's disease you have a greater risk of falling victim to the disease.

The study consisted of 53 people over the age of 60. Ten of them had a father with Alzheimer's, 11 had a mother with Alzheimer's, and 32 had no family history of the disease.

Participants whose mothers had Alzheimer's had about one-and-one-half times the annual brain shrinkage of both those with no family history and those whose fathers had the disease.

Previous studies also have linked Alzheimer's with mothers, suggesting a possible mitochondrial DNA cause, because such DNA is only inherited maternally.

Experts warn, however, that this study sample of 53 is too small to draw any firm conclusions. That makes me feel better. And then, too, my grandmother, Mom's mom, lived to 86 without developing dementia!
For more information --

http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20110228/mothers-alzheimers-disease-may-boost-your-risk