Studies show that about one in five men among age of 80 lose the Y chromosome in their blood cells, and now has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The condition known as loss of Y, or
LOY, the most common genetic mutation acquired during a man’s lifetime, can
raise the likelihood of cancer and is more frequently found in smokers, says
the researchers.
Now, researchers say the condition may
serve as a predictive biomarker for a wider range of health problems.
Lards Forsberg and Jan Dumanski of
Uppsala University in Sweden, along with colleagues from Britain, France, the
United States and Canada, the researchers for the study in the American Journal
of Human Genetics, examined cases of LOY in more that 3,200 men with an average
age of 73 and around 17 percent showed LOY in blood cells.
Those who had been already diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s had a higher degree of LOY. Also, those who had not yet been
diagnosed with dementia but had LOY were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s in
subsequent years. Though Forsberg cautioned that having loss of Y is not 100
percent predictive that you will have either cancer or Alzheimer’s.
The study sheds little light on why
Alzheimer’s risk may be elevated in these men, according to Chris Lau,
professor in the department of medicine at the University of California.
Lau also stated that even though the
study is informative, it only highlights the fact that the Y chromosome could
serve important functions beyond male sex determination and sperm production.
This was, however, not involved in the study.
Though studies have linked Y
chromosomes as an increased risk to Alzheimer’s disease, since Y chromosomes
contains many genes and some unique men and others shared with women do not
have Y chromosome, more research is needed.
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