A new study has made important revelations with regard to Alzheimer's disease. The study has found that the disease affects the brains of African-Americans and white Americans of European descent completely differently.

The researchers have said that African-Americans are more at risk to suffer from different types of brain changes. The study researchers have looked for the presence of plaques and tangles in the brains of black and white Alzheimer's patients. They also checked for brain changes that could cause dementia.

The autopsies unveiled that African-Americans were having more chances than whites to suffer from different dementia-related changes. Study's lead author Lisa Barnes, a professor of neurology and behavioral science at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said that it was quite surprising to see that blacks experience dementia-related changes.

The researchers said that the underlying brain changes were different, which reveals about different risk factors. Out of 81 dead white patients, 42% of them displayed signs of Alzheimer's disease and 51% of them showed a mix of brain changes.

In the case of 41% dead black patients, around 20% displayed the usual Alzheimer's plaques and tangles and the remaining proportion experienced mixed brain changes, including usual Alzheimer's brain changes and infarcts and Lewy bodies.

More number of the black patients suffered from severe blood vessel disease in their brains, like hardening of the arteries. The research may prove beneficial when it comes to explaining as to why blacks in the United States are twice more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than American of European descent.