Abstract
The introduction of genetics into a collection of contributions dedicated to new concepts in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may seem a paradox at many levels. First, the importance of genetic factors in the determination of AD is not a new concept, since it has been surmised almost from the first description of the disease. It was indicated by a number of reports (not reviewed in this present paper) of relatively small familial groups in which a few cases of AD were clustered. Second, with therapy at the legitimate foreground of our concerns, the genetic code (as a symbol of fixed fate impervious to medical influence) would, at least until recent times, have seemed a barrier to any practical use of genetic studies. Third, the Parkinson paradigm and the ensuing focus on neurotransmitters, and hence on therapy aimed at the mechanisms, as distinct from the causation, of disease, has directed much of the recent AD research effort towards neuropharmacology.
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Foncin, J.F., Salmon, D., Bruni, A.C. (1986). Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease: A Large Kindred with Apparent Mendelian Transmission: Possible Implications for a Linkage Study. In: Briley, M., Kato, A., Weber, M. (eds) New Concepts in Alzheimer’s Disease. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08639-9_18
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