ive read this several times when reading about alzheimers disease and have heard alzheimers speakers say this several times
just because our parents and grandparents have alzheimers disease doesnt mean we will
im sure that made a lot of folks rest easy
however
this recent study from the university of utah may change that view some
after i read the study i went back and looked closer at my family tree and who on those branches may have had alzheimers disease
this information was gathered from my own experiences
eg i remember both grandmothers having memory issues
cousins have related stories to me about my uncles and aunts dementia
a cousin wrote a book about her mothers battle with alzheimers and her grandparents battle with it
discussions with older siblings who remember some of these folks better than i did
in my family tree
these probably had it
my maternal great grandfather
both grandmothers
both parents
6 uncles and aunts
several cousins
two siblings
thats a real positive history there
my guess is its because i have the double apoe 4 gene which increases the odds of getting alzheimers disease a lot
the apoe 4 gene also is involved in cholesterol metabolism so the levels can tend to be real high in folks with this gene
high cholesterol is associated with stroke heart attack and probably alzheimers diease
stroke is also a common cause of memory loss and dementia
the university of utah had records on folks going back to the 1800s including death certificates
the mormons were and still are good record keepers
they looked back at at least 3 generations on thousands of folks
the risk was greater for those who had it through each generation like our family does
the risk could reach 15 x in those folks
this article goes more into depth on the study results
even with this increased risk you can alter it by living a healthy lifestyle negating somewhat your family history
at least i hope so
thats what im trying to do
the organicgreen doctor
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