STUDY BEHIND DEMENTIA

[Anchor Lead]

East Asians were known to suffer from dementia and Alzheimer's disease more often than westerners. A study found that Koreans and East Asians actually had more genotypes that cause dementia than Caucasians.

[Pkg]

​This is an MRI image of a dementia patient's brain. A new dementia genotype was found in this patient's genes. This is the T-type genetic variation that exists in the APOE genes known to cause dementia. Chosun University's National Research Center for Dementia studied the dielectrics of 40,000 Asians and Caucasians and found that the dementia occurrence rate of the T-type genetic variation was 2.5 times higher than the G-type variation and furthermore, brain damage was more severe.

[Soundbite] DR. CHOI KYU-YEONG(CHOSUN UNIV.) : "Biological tests confirmed that the T-type genetic variation affects the manifestation of APOE protein."

The study found that East Asians, including Koreans, had more of the T-type genetic variations. Among the study subjects, this genotype was found in 70% of East Asians and 50% of Caucasians. The study is important as it confirmed one of the factors that make East Asians more susceptible to dementia than Caucasians. The research team said dementia risks can be more accurately predicted by using this analysis method on simple DNA mouth swabs.

[Soundbite] PROF. LEE KUN-HO(CHOSUN UNIV.) : "Prediction accuracy improved by using a model based on this. A simple test can predict up to 80%."

The study findings were published recently on the Journal of Clinical Medicine after the dementia prediction method was patented locally.