Does Telomere Shortening Predict Dementia?
A Critical Review: Presented at AAT By Chris Berrie GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — April 24, 2006 — Despite previous mixed reports, telomere length cannot be used to predict dementia, according to the largest longitudinal study performed in demented and normal subjects and presented here at the 9th International Geneva/Springfield Symposium on Advances in Alzheimer Therapy (AAT). Principal investigator Dina Zekry, MD, PhD, associate professor and head, somatic dementia unit, department of rehabilitation and geriatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Thônex, Switzerland, discussed the study findings in a presentation on April 20th. “The telomeres are short, repeated DNA sequences, and each time a cell makes a copy of itself, some of these repeats are lost,” Dr. Zekry said. From starting levels of some 8,000 base pairs, 20 to 200 are lost during each cellular replication, she explained. The importance of these telomeres lies in their multiple roles: they protect against degeneration, they prevent
