Alzheimer's researchers identify 11 more genes linked to the disease

Researchers have taken a major step towards understanding the causes of Alzheimer's disease with the largest study yet into the genetics of the disorder.

Findings from the international team suggest at least 20 genes play a role in the common late-onset form of Alzheimer's, more than double the number previously identified.

The work gives researchers an unprecedented view of the biological pathways that drive the neurodegenerative disorder, and raises the prospect of a test that could determine a person's susceptibility to the disease. Such a test could be helpful if preventative drugs become available.

Researchers led by Philippe Amouyel at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France, used genetic information from more than 74,000 Alzheimer's patients and healthy controls to find regions of DNA that were more common in people who had the disease.

The scientists found many genes already implicated in the disease, including ApoE4, which is strongly linked to late-onset Alzheimer's. But 11 of the gene regions had never before been linked to the disorder.

An irreversible disorder and most common form of dementia, it takes hold when areas of damage and tangles form in the brain that cause nerve cells to die off.