Most African-Americans could be suffering from other different types of brain pathologies in addition to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) unlike European-Americans, says a study published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Forty-one deceased African-Americans with AD that had clinical diagnosis in memory clinic as well as brain autopsies were considered for the study. The findings of the study were then compared with the reports of 81 deceased European-Americans that had same severity of AD over the same age group, education level and gender, reported Health Canal.

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Signs of AD like plaques and tangles as well as brain changes associated with other types of dementia like Parkinson's Disease and stroke were studied closely by the researchers. Infarcts in brain are reportedly associated with stroke and Lewy bodies are associated with Parkinson's Disease. The investigators also studied if the patient had any other pathology other than AD. Small and large blood vessel diseases were also taken into account for the study.

It was observed in the study that about 71 percent of African-Americans had AD mixed with another type of pathology in contrast to one fourth of them with pure AD, reported BT. The researchers also noted that 51 percent of European-Americans had mixed brain pathologies that included Lewy bodies and infarcts in addition to AD, reported Philly. African-Americans were also found to have had severe blood vessel diseases like hardening of arteries.

Dr. Lisa L. Barnes, the author of the study from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said, "Because some studies suggest that Alzheimer's disease is more common among older African-Americans than European-Americans, we wanted to see whether the brain changes caused by Alzheimer's are different in these two racial groups." She also added that "Studying how Alzheimer's disease looks in the brain in individuals of different races may help us to further understand the disease and pinpoint strategies for prevention and treatment." 

Barnes noted that the study findings play an important role in understanding the need for the development of different types of prevention and treatment plan for AD. She also added that the current AD drug targets only specific type of AD and hence it becomes necessary to develop new treatment for mixed pathologies in African-Americans. 

TagsAlzheimer's Disease, Signs of Alzheimer's Disease, Dimentia, Parkinson's disease, stroke