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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2001;285:1831.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A genetic variant known to be an important risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD) may also be linked to the severe weight loss seen in some women with the disease (Neurology. 2001;56:655-659).

In a study of 46 patients with AD and 911 people without the disorder, researchers at Kuopio University in Finland found that the gene, APOE 4, was associated with moderate-to-severe weight loss in both patients with AD and elderly individuals without the degenerative brain disorder.

Elderly people who carried APOE 4 lost an average of 1.9 kg during the 3.5-year study compared with an average gain of 1.2 kg among people without the gene, and severe weight loss (5% of body weight or more) occurred more often in individuals carrying APOE 4. Among the patients with AD, only women carrying the gene variant lost weight.

The APOE 4 gene may affect an area of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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