[escepticos] Racismo científico

["Víctor R. Ruiz" <rvr@...>]

  Hola: 


  Ahí les va una nota de prensa que huele a racismo científico.

  PD: ¿Qué 'raza' son los hispánicos?

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Embargoed For Release: 10 March 1998 At 15:00:00 ET US

Contact: Carolyn Conway cc328 en columbia.edu 212-305-3900 Columbia University
College of Physicians and Surgeons

African Americans And Hispanics At Higher Risk For Alzheimer's Disease

Although scientists have known for several years that the presence of the
E4 form of the gene known as apolipoprotein-E (APOE) or APOE-E4 allele
(gene variation), is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's
disease among whites, the risk posed by the gene has not been so clear-cut
among African Americans and Hispanics. Now, researchers from Columbia
University College of Physicians & Surgeons have discovered that African
Americans and Hispanics have an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease
whether or not they carry the APOE- 4 allele. The discovery could lead to a
better understanding of other genes or risk factors that may contribute to
Alzheimer's disease.

The study, published in the March 11 issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association, reports that African Americans and Hispanics with the
APOE- 4 allele have approximately the same risk of Alzheimer's disease as
do whites with the allele. But African Americans without the APOE- 4
genotype had four times the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than did
whites without the genotype, and Hispanics had 2.5 times the risk. "This
indicates that either there are genes that modify APOE- 4 or there are
different genes involved," says Dr. Richard Mayeux, senior investigator,
Gertrude H. Sergievsky Professor of Neurology, director of the Sergievsky
Center, and co-director of the Taub Center for Alzheimer's Disease
Research. "It suggests that there is probably a whole new way to approach
the etiology of Alzheimer's disease." The study was funded by the National
Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association.

Dr. Ming-Xin Tang, lead author and assistant professor of biostatistics in
the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, and colleagues determined the genotypes
of approximately 1,000 elderly volunteers, all residents of Washington
Heights. The researchers then monitored the health of the volunteers over
five years to assess them for signs of Alzheimer's disease (all volunteers
were free of any signs of disease at the start of the study). The
researchers controlled for other factors that might affect the risk of the
disease, such as education levels. And to reduce the likelihood that the
results might be swayed by a misdiagnosis of Alzheimer's, the researchers
calculated their results only among those who developed severe disease.

The researchers are not certain what causes the increased risk among the
two minority groups. "It could be genetic or it could be due to
environmental factors," says Dr. Tang. "More broad-based studies are
needed." The researchers are now proposing a follow-up study.

Notes Dr. Mayeux, "This research highlights an important point: When
something is found to be true among the white population, we can't
automatically assume it will be true for other ethnic groups as well."

The study's other authors were Drs. Yaakov Stern, Karen Marder, Karen Bell,
Barry Gurland, Rafael Lantigua, Howard Andrews, Lin Feng, and Benjamin Tycko.


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Víctor R. Ruiz                rvr en idecnet.com
   Agrupación Astronómica de Gran Canaria
  Sociedad de Meteoros y Cometas de España
info.astro  http://www.astrored.org/infoastro
http://ccdis.dis.ulpgc.es:8086/AAGC/aagc.html
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