Newswise — What life style factors are associated with the risk of getting Alzheimer disease? For an anxious public scanning the headlines, the answer seems to depend on the latest study. One week readers may be exhorted to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, while the next week they are warned about metabolic disorder. But what does the research really show over dozens of studies comprising tens of thousands of people? Even Alzheimer experts find it challenging to keep track. This is why the Alzheimer Research Forum (www.alzforum.org), an independent, nonprofit Web community for Alzheimer researchers, has launched AlzRisk, a database of epidemiological studies built in collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital. AlzRisk will eventually catalogue the major putative environmental risk and protective factors for Alzheimer disease.
"The database is structured so that it will allow researchers, at a glance, to see all of the data that have been published on a given risk factor," said Deborah Blacker, M.D. Sc.D., director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Gerontology Research Unit and principal investigator on the project. It also allows scientists to combine the results of several studies into a "meta" or pooled analysis to get a more statistically meaningful overview of individual risk factors. "The principal benefit of the database is that it will allow researchers to identify exactly where the field lies so they can plan what to do next. It will give a sense of which factors have been exhaustively analyzed, which factors look well established, which look very promising, and how we can build on the currently available data," said Blacker. The database is also available to the public. The bird's eye view can be used to determine exactly how well media-reported risk factors have been studied.
AlzRisk is based on the highly successful AlzGene, a database that catalogues thousands of published studies linking Alzheimer disease susceptibility with variations in the genetic code. Blacker was also involved in establishing that project. "But what was very clear from the outset was that AlzRisk was going to be vastly more complicated," said Blacker. This is because of the inherent variability in environmental exposure. "For genetics, things are straightforward. You either have a genetic variation or you don't. There is a lot more complexity to environmental risk factors, which makes it all the more essential that we get a thorough characterization of the data" she said.
AlzRisk will document published findings about the impact of putative environmental risk and protective factors related to Alzheimer's disease from longitudinal cohort studies. These are studies that follow specific groups of people over time and examine how their exposure to environmental risks is related to subsequent disease. The factors studied include high blood cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, diet, medications, physical and cognitive exercise, and social factors. About 30-40 risk factors have been studied for their impact on Alzheimer's disease.
Each risk factor on AlzRisk will have a web page detailing the number and type of studies that have been published, the analyses carried out, and the basic findings, along with a companion page that shows the summary data in tabular and graphical form. There will also be a summary statement for each risk factor that will outline areas of debate, including methodological issues, potential mechanisms of action, and other potentially relevant findings (such as randomized clinical trials and the impact of the risk factor on other health outcomes). "The findings do not necessarily speak for themselves the way they would if you were talking genetics. We have to put them in context," said Blacker.
AlzRisk has already fully curated two putative risk factors, diabetes and vitamin E. Blacker hopes that the database will be fully operational by the end of 2009 with the inclusion of all published studies.
AlzRisk can be found on the Alzforum website http://www.alzforum.org/res/com/alzrisk/ and at http://www.alzrisk.org.
Read an interview with Deborah Blacker http://www.alzforum.org/res/for/interview/blacker.asp
About the Alzheimer Research ForumThe Alzheimer Research Forum, founded in 1996, is the web's most dynamic scientific community dedicated to understanding Alzheimer disease and related disorders. Access to the web site is free to all. The Forum's editorial priorities are as diverse as the needs of the research community. The web site reports on the latest scientific findings, from basic research to clinical trials; creates and maintains public databases of essential research data and reagents; and produces discussion forums to promote debate, speed the dissemination of new ideas, and break down barriers across the numerous disciplines that can contribute to the global effort to cure Alzheimer's disease.
The ARF team of professional science writers and editors, information technology experts, web developers and producers all work closely with its distinguished and diverse Advisory Board to ensure a high-quality of information and services. The Alzheimer Research Forum is an independent nonprofit organization supported by grants and individual donations. The web site does not endorse any specific product or scientific approach.
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