A case-control study of maternal age in Alzheimer's disease

A case-control study of maternal age as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease was conducted in Washington state. Clinically diagnosed cases of Alzheimer's disease (n = 64) were identified from two sources, an outpatient clinic at the University of Washington and an organization of relatives of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Controls were spouses of the Alzheimer's disease cases and spouses of 87 patients with Parkinson's disease, also identified at the University of Washington. Mail questionnaires were sent to all subjects; responses were received for 90 cases and 96 controls, although nine of those cases, whose medical records of diagnostic evaluations were incomplete, were excluded. Among the 69 cases and 94 controls whose mothers' ages were known, there was no evidence that the mothers of cases were significantly older than the mothers of controls (chi-square test for trend, P = 0.82). These findings do not support the theory that persons born to older mothers are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.