A new study has revealed that high stress levels may lead to memory loss among people who are at a risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The A4 variant of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene amplifies the risk for memory loss among those susceptible to Alzheimer's disease, a website reported.
Likewise, high levels of cortisol, associated with high stress levels, also impairs memory, the related effects of this risk geno type and chronic stress have not been deciphered completely.
In the study, Guerry M Peavy, Ph.D., and colleagues performed genotyping and measured the chronic stress level in 91 older, healthy subjects. Those lows on stress or without the risk factor performed better on memory measures than those with high stress. This is a very exciting time in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research the findings suggest that environmental factors, like chronic stress, may interact with an AD risk genotype, APOE to promote age-related memory impairment.