Research conducted by Veterans General Hospital’s Taichung branch shows that a particular genetic variation, specific to Taiwanese, leads to a higher risk of stroke and dementia, and warned that families with a history of strokes or hyperlipidemia should be on the alert.
Department of Neurology doctor Tung Hsin (董欣) said the R544C variant in the Notch-3 gene is a common variant for Taiwanese and is considered a cause of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.
If either parent carries the gene variation, their offspring would have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the gene variation, Tung said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
The genetic variation causes congenital fragility of blood vessel walls, and people who have it should control their lipedema levels.
Tung said past research showed that patients were usually diagnosed with the symptoms at the age of 54 to 56.
People with the gene variation could experience general leukoencephalopathy, cerebral infarction and a minute brain hemorrhage from the progressive buildup of cerebral white matter as they age, resulting in a decrease in cognitive and memory functions.
Head of the hospital’s center for dementia Kee Wei-ju (李威儒) said the center’s research team combed through the hospital’s archives, established during the hospital’s participation in the nation’s Precision Medicine Initiative, and found that there were 554 patients with the R544C variation, or a prevalence rate of 0.96 percent.
About 28 percent of patients with the gene variation have been diagnosed with dementia or have suffered a stroke, while the remaining 72 percent, while visibly healthy, have also demonstrated higher rates of leukoencephalopathy compared with patients without the gene variation, Kee said.
The team conducted neuroimaging for 63 patients with the gene variation without visible symptoms, and 37 people without the gene variation, showing that those with the gene variation experienced increased rates of leukoencephalopathy — comprising 0.336 percent of the cerebral mass — after the age of 48, higher than the 0.059 percent of those without the gene variation.
Lee said the research suggests that those with the gene variation experience increased rates of leukoencephalopathy 10 years before those without the gene variation and six to seven years before noticeable symptoms develop.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS