CBS: Parents with Alzheimer's may be passing abnormal brain changes to kids

2/13/2014

Patients with Alzheimer's may be passing abnormalities on to their children. Learn more about our research on Alzheimer's risk and prevention. "If your mom and dad had Alzheimer’s, a new study suggests you might already have early signs of the brain-destroying disease. Researchers took brain scans of people, and found those who had both biological parents diagnosed with the disease were more likely to have evidence of disease risk -- including the telltale protein plaque buildup -- on their brains decades before symptoms might show up. “Studies show that by the time people come in for a diagnosis, there may be a large amount of irreversible brain damage already present. This is why it is ideal that we find signs of the disease in high-risk people before symptoms occur,” study author Dr. Lisa Mosconi, a psychiatry professor at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said in a statement."