6 research-backed ways to avoid Alzheimer’s no matter what your genes say

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the diseases we fear most as we get older. The prospect of slowly losing one’s ability to think, to remember, and to recognize the faces of those we love is terrifying. There is much research that links hereditary factors with developing the disease. While this isn’t written in stone, there are certain things we do know. There are particular genes that scientists can “read” to determine, at least broadly, what your risk level is for developing the disease. But researchers have also found that the “high-risk” version of this gene actually responds more favorably to certain lifestyle changes that we can implement in order to lower our risk. So, here’s a “plain talk” explanation of the genetic factors that either increase or decrease your risk, along with some ways you can outsmart your genes and stay clear of Alzheimer’s. Your genes determine your risk… Your chromosomes are your genetic encoding material. They’re like a map that determines things like hair and eye color but also can tell you how vulnerable you are to various diseases, including Alzheimer’s. Apolipoprotein E, or APOE , is a gene that’s associated with varying levels of risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Your risk level depends on which allele of the APOE gene you have. (Alleles are simply alternative forms of a gene that are found at the same spot on a chromosome.) There are three different alleles of the APOE gene: APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4. Each of us has two of these alleles, in one of six possible combinations: APOE2/APOE2, APOE2/APOE3, APOE2/APOE4, APOE3/APOE3, APOE3/APOE4, or APOE4/APOE4. Depending on which combination you’ve drawn, your risk for developing Alzheimer’s is either pretty low, average, or pretty high. APOE2 is rare and is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s. APOE3 is the […]

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