Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Loss of sense of smell early indicator of Alzheimers

graciegirl · 10-15-2013, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Thanks, that's an interesting article. It has been known for some time that if you have a certain gene (APOE4) you will likely be more susceptible to getting Alzheimer's dementia. For example: If you suffer a concussion or if you are obese, have diabetes, or have an operation, those things can turn the Alzheimer's gene on. All the more reason to be careful about everything we do.

You are incorrect in your belief that trauma turns a gene "on". That is simplistic and inaccurate.

But how might the APOE e4 variant affect our ability to recover from a traumatic brain injury? Research on Alzheimer’s offers some clues.
Sizing up head trauma
More than 10 million people around the world suffer a traumatic brain injury every year and a staggering 1.7 million of these injuries occur in the USA. This makes traumatic brain injury the leading cause of death and disability in Americans under the age of 35. Most cases of brain injury result from falls and car accidents, but contact sports and modern warfare are also contributors.
It’s not clear exactly why people with the e4 variant are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, but it is known that the brains of people with this variant have more protein clumps, called amyloid plaques, than the brains of people without the variant. It’s possible that these plaques cause neurons in the brain to die.
Up to 30% of people who suffer a severe traumatic brain injury also have plaques. These plaques seem to develop very quickly — sometimes within two hours — after injury. It’s possible that people with the e4 variant are simply more likely to develop plaques in their brains — perhaps even more so with trauma — and this predisposes them for developing cognitive problems.
Scientists have long thought that our genes interact with our environment to impact our health. In the case of mental decline and dementia, preliminary research suggests a connection between the APOE e4 variant and severe brain injury, but findings are inconsistent and more research is needed to know for sure.