(NewsNation) — A new study suggests military veterans have a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease, based on higher levels of proteins that are considered hallmarks of the disease.
The study, published in “Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association,” involved studying the brains of deceased military veterans who donated their brains to research.
The research team, led by Dr. Ryan Powell with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, examined the brains of World War II, Korea and Vietnam-era veterans as well as non-veterans from the same time period.
Of the 597 men who donated their brains to research, the team used genealogical records to determine that around 60% of the men had served in the military. Researchers were not able to study the brains of female veterans because the pool of donors did not include enough of them.
“This study is shining new light on data that’s been collected over decades – some donations date all the way back to the mid-1980s – so the donations of these veterans are still yielding valuable new insights after all these years,” Powell said.
The study found that veterans were 26% more likely to have amyloid plaques in their brains and 10% more likely to have neurofibrillary tangles made of abnormal tau proteins than non-veterans.
Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are both hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and can disrupt interactions between neurons. Scientists are still working to determine if amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are part of what causes dementia or if they develop as a symptom of the disease.
Researchers said the findings indicate a need for more disease prevention and treatment interventions among veterans
“This has important implications for the Veterans Health Administration since it indicates an urgent need to screen veterans and to target therapies to those at greatest risk,” Powell said.
Veterans are also exposed to other risks for brain disorders, including chronic stress, physical trauma and traumatic brain injuries and environmental hazards like Agent Orange. Veterans are also known to have higher rates of heart disease, PTSD and depression, which also increase the risk for dementia.
The team hopes to expand the study to include more brains, especially those from younger generations of veterans, in hopes of understanding more about the causes of brain changes.
“We might be able to uncover other factors and learn where risks can be reduced,” Powell said.
