Having second- or third-degree relatives with Alzheimer’s raises a person’s risk of developing the disease, a new study suggests.

It’s already known that children of Alzheimer’s patients are at higher risk for the disease. But in the new study, people with Alzheimer’s in their extended family were also at a higher risk of the disease compared to those with no family history, researchers reported in Neurology.

The more closely related the relatives with Alzheimer’s, and the greater their number, the higher an individual’s risk of developing the disease, the study showed.

The authors, led by Professor Lisa Cannon-Albright of the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, tapped into a very complete genealogy, the Utah Population Database, which includes information on families dating back to the original pioneers who settled the state in the 1800s.