Alzheimer's Gene Raises Newborns' Cerebral Palsy Risk

CHICAGO --- Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene associated with heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease in adults, can also increase the likelihood that brain-injured newborns will develop cerebral palsy, researchers at Children's Memorial Research Center have discovered. This is the first identification of a gene that increases susceptibility to cerebral palsy. Results of the study, published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics, may enable early identification of children who are at risk for poor neuro-developmental outcome after brain injury as newborns and thus target those children for early therapeutic intervention.

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