Birth Cohort effects in risk factors for Alzheimer's disease

 
   Lead Investigator:    Erin Abner
   Institution      :    U Kentucky
   E-Mail           :    erin.abner@uky.edu
   Proposal ID      :    638



   Proposal Description:
   The main purpose of carrying out this research is to examine birth cohort         effects in established risk factors for Alzheimer???s disease (AD). We            hypothesize that the effects of age, education, APOE, and comorbidities may       differ in magnitude depending on when the participant was born.  We propose to use the Uniform Data Set for this study.                                          Study participants born in the same eras have experienced similar environmental and societal changes and events, which may be different from those of different cohort, since the current health status of an aged participant may be partly dependent on his or her past exposures in life. The following risk factors will be examined in this analysis: Age, Education, Genotype (APOE Genotype), Number of Children (if female), Smoking, Hypertension, and Diabetes.                     We propose to classify participants into birth cohorts based on the empirical  distribution of participant birth years to ensure adequate sample sizes. Using case-control designs, we will then assess risk factors for AD within birth cohorts using logistic regression. Findings from this study may help inform prevention strategies for AD.