Scientists have identified the ethnic group most at risk of Alzheimer's disease

Bashkirs are the people with the highest risk of Alzheimer's disease, geneticists have found out. Experts analyzed the genomes of 166 thousand people of various nationalities, they were looking for mutations in the APOE gene. Izvestia reviewed the results of the study.

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"In humans, there are several variants of the APOE gene, each encoding a different form of the protein apolipoprotein E. The main variants of APOE gene mutations are E2, E3 and E4. The presence of the APOE E4 variation increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases and stroke," the experts emphasized.

According to geneticists, about 25% of people carry one copy of APOE E4, and 2-3% of the population carry two copies.

As the scientists noted, carriers of one copy of APOE E4 have a three—fold higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than those who do not have it, and carriers of two copies have up to 15 times higher risk.

According to the study, Bashkirs have a mutation in the gene responsible for the likelihood of Alzheimer's disease in almost 6% of cases. This mutation is least common among Mountain Jews and Armenians — in 0.45% of cases.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

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