Stanford study finds way to protect against Alzheimer's

People with a particular version of a gene involved in immune response had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, according to a massive study of medical and genetic data.

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The protective gene version, or allele identified in the study, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is called DR4, and is carried by about one in every five people.

Researchers from the Stanford University in the US found that people with DR4 had reduced chances of contracting either Parkinson's or Alzheimer's by more than 10 per cent on average.

These lucky people may someday benefit all the more from a vaccine that could slow or stall the progression of these two most common neurodegenerative conditions.

"In an earlier study we'd allele seemed to protect against Parkinson's disease," said Emmanuel Mignot, Professor in Sleep Medicine, psychiatry and behavioural sciences from Stanford Medicine.