Hormone Identified as Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease

The most common form of dementia worldwide, Alzheimer’s Disease currently afflicts 36 million people and is projected to double over the next 20 years.  Previous studies have suggested that insulin resistance and inflammation contribute to the disease.  New data posits that adiponectin, a hormone derived from visceral fat, that sensitizes the body to insulin, may play a role as a risk factor for development of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease in women. Thomas M. van Himbergen,from Tufts University (Massachusetts), and  colleagues measured levels of glucose, insulin, and glycated albumin, as well as C reactive protein, lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2, and adiponectin in the plasma of patients at the 19th biennial examination (1985 – 1988) of the Framingham Heart Study. The 840 patients (541 women, median age of 76 years) were followed-up for an average of 13 years and evaluated for signs of the development of Alzheimer’s Disease and all-cause dementia. During that time, 159 patients developed dementia, including 125 cases of AD. After adjustment for other dementia risk factors (age, apoE genotype, low plasma docosahexaenoic acid, weight change) only adiponectin in women was associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Observing that: “Women with baseline adiponectin values more than the median had a higher risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease (aas compared with those with values less than the median),” the study authors conclude that: “In women, increased plasma adiponectin levels are an independent risk factor for the development of both all-cause dementia and [Alzheimer’s Disease].”