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Originally Posted by pooh
Oh? What about genes? There are genes related to Alzheimer development. There may indeed be ways to help slow or maybe even prevent, late onset of the disease....watch out for head injuries, get plenty of exercise, eat well and stay happy, but have these methods been shown to always work???
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What about genes? Good question, pooh. You, and others, might find it interesting to know that the author, Jean Carper, has the gene for Alzheimer's disease. She disclosed this information at the beginning. The book came out in 2010 and she said she was 78 years old. I think it's pretty good that she can still write an interesting and informative book at her age with the gene for Alzheimer's. She may yet get Alzheimer's but so far (as of 2010) everything seems to be okay.
On the 19th I talked to my doctor about Alzheimer's when I went in to get my blood-work results. My blood-work did not include looking for the Alzheimer's gene and he said he thought it would be a waste of time and money to look for it. And I believe he's correct. He said it's only an association and there may be many other genes involved. Most likely you will find a higher rate of dementia among those with the gene but not everyone with the gene gets Alzheimer's. So what does that mean? I believe it means that the gene (or genes) need to be triggered by something in the environment (and that includes diet, exercise etc..).
Have these methods been shown to always work? Nope, sorry, there are no guarantees. Very few people, even with the best of intentions, can follow all the rules. And these rules have to be started early in life. My father had a big waistline at middle age and I believe I read (in another book) that a big waistline (about 40 inches?) will increase your risk by about 6 times. The first symptom he had was the loss of his sense of smell which we discovered when my mother was baking cookies. Everyone said mmmm! those cookies smell good! And he said, "what smell? I don't smell anything." He was somewhere around his mid-fifties at the time and didn't get diagnosed with Alzheimer's until he was about 77 to 78 years old.
I have never been overweight but I did hit my head a couple of times, accidentally. But I would still recommend that no one give up trying to avoid dementia, regardless of what was in their past. I can't be pessimistic; that's not my nature. I may be pessimistic at times about the direction of the country as a whole, but for myself and others around me I would like to offer hope. And the fact that this good book was written by someone with the gene....well, that in itself offers a lot of hope.