New report reveals alarming Alzheimer’s rates in Down syndrome patients

Alzheimer’s disease is commonly associated with old age but new research reveals that an unlikely group is most prone to suffer from the disease as early as age 40.

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behaviour. It affects nearly 7 million Americans, most of whom are aged above 65.

According to the DailyMail, the ratio of the disease in old age is as follows:

• One in 14 people at the age of 65
• One in three people at the age of 85

Now, experts have warned that 200,000 to 400,000 Americans with Down’s syndrome are at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a condition that gradually erases memory and cognitive function.

Experts who appeared at the world’s largest dementia conference said that there exists a huge research gap in this domain and warned that the people with Down syndrome face an extremely high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

About 50 per cent of the people with down syndrome are diagnosed with Alzheimer by age of 40 while 90 per cent develop it by age 59.

The exact cause of Alzheimer's remains unclear however researchers have a theory. 

Experts speculate that protein amyloid beta forms plaques which attack brain cells and cause overall brain volume to shrink.