Alzheimer’s, the deadly brain disease, may soon be treated or prevented by gene replacement, according to a leading expert.

And the new genes could be used in a nasal spray, according to Professor Julie Williams of Cardiff University.

Given the ease of treatment it would be possible to screen the whole at-risk population and then the gene therapy applied.

Alzheimer’s is probably the most feared of all the diseases of ageing as relatives see the personality of the person they love disappear. The number of sufferers is also likely to increase given the growth in the ageing population and the growth in other linked diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Existing drugs delay the progress of Alzheimer’s, but their failure to tackle the underlying cause in the brain means that the effect quickly wears off and the disease soon takes its devastating course.

The professor, jointly leading the biggest-ever study into the genetics of the disease with more than 180 researchers from 15 countries. It pinpointed 11 genes that raise the risk of Alzheimer’s. This takes the total number of genes involved to 21, it also more than doubles the number of known Alzheimer’s genes, said the report in the journal Nature Genetics.

Professor Williams, who is chief scientific adviser to the Welsh Assembly in addition to being a working researcher, said the researchers had been surprised by the strong pattern that revealed several genes implicating the body’s immune system in causing dementia.

“Each individual gene will carry a relatively low risk but when you put all the information together, they are telling us an interesting and novel story and that takes us in a new direction.”

She added that the find needs to be followed up with ‘great urgency’ to determine just how the genes cause dementia. Knowing this will speed the search for new drug treatments.

She concluded that “in the distant future’ everyone in their 40s or 50s could be screened for dementia genes and given genetic therapy and other treatments in a bid to stop the disease ever developing.”

The study also suggested links between Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.