ApoE4 cousin

[Tongass]

Hello, I have known for quite some time that I am E3/E4 or heterozygous for ApoE4. I am 53 and have been in the prediabetic range for about 2 years. I am a thin prediabetic and I am moderately active. I have had success in bringing down my A1C to 5.4% My fasting blood sugar is not yet where I want it (about 108 currently.) My liver gives me more glucose than I need at night and my pancreas has my blood insulin level at 3 uIU/mL (reference range 4 - 29 uIU/mL.)
I am focusing on improving my diet and increasing my fitness regularity and challenge level. The combination of being prediabetic and heterozygous for ApoE4 has been very motivating. Successfully managing blood sugar helps prevent many diseases, and hoping that we are greatly reducing our risk factor for Alzheimer's disease by managing our blood sugars well too.

My father had a friend that I knew since I was quite young. He was a teacher, a writer, a musician. A very fun and loving man, he meditated daily, he was a vegetarian, he was very fit too. He was an organic gardener and would purchase organic when possible (and reasonable) at the co-op. He did everything that we knew to do back then and he still got late-onset Alzheimer's disease in his late 60's. I do not know if he had ApoE4 or not.
If having ApoE4 motivates you to live healthily and enjoy each day; that motivation may change your life more than the biology of the ApoE4 allele. I guess that is why I am here on this forum and I guessing others here have a similar motivation.

This is old news, but still relevant: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-12937131

For those who want to get into the details: https://goo.gl/QXHRPC (Common variants at ABCA7, MS4A6A/MS4A4E, EPHA1, CD33 and CD2AP are associated with Alzheimer’s disease from nature.com > nature genetics > letters > article (Paul Hollingworth, Denise Harold, etc. 175 authors total, too many to list.)

[Jan]

Thank you for adding additional information to your story, Tongass. Two things in your second post particularly struck me ... "everything that we knew to do back then" and "motivates you to live healthily and enjoy each day ... may change your life more than the biology ...."

You seem very aware, so probably have already read Dr. Dale Bredesen's new book - The End of Alzheimer's: the First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline. Dr. Bredesen's breakthroughs (the ReCODE Protocol - silver 'buckshot' not bullet) have moved the goal post on what we now know to do, to prevent and reverse cognitive decline. To that, we add the wisdom of Dr. Steven Gundry's work, his change from cardiology to study and focus on E4 for the last few years, and his latest book Plant Paradox. We benefit from these two giants.

Your second point was the importance of being aware of living "each day." Most people have no trouble jumping in to chase perfect 'lab' markers. But many forget the contribution simple 'mindfulness' can make to health, which I believe can be epigenetic gold. Kudos to you for realizing its value. I think you're doing a wonderful job guiding your health, and look forward to many contributions from you in the future.

[Tongass]

Thanks, Jan I have not yet read Dr. Dale Bredesen's book. It sounds like there is a lot of good information. Are there many people on the ReCODE Protocol that are part of apoe4.info?

[Jan]

There are many people on the site who follow the ReCODE program, or parts thereof. Not all are 'officially' registered for the program, as it is in its beginning stages, and cost is also an issue. And we have several people on the site who follow Dr. Gundry's program. Luckily, the two programs are very similar, and each doctor esteems the other. (They met not too long ago, thanks to members of this site.)

I'm not sure if you have been pointed toward our site Primer? It was written by physician member Stavia and is an excellent (perhaps more easily digested) guide within itself: viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1418.

Our site search function is the three stacked squares at the top right of each page. You can use it to fine tune searches within the voluminous files of the site. And, as you already know, we love questions. So continue posting any and all.

[Tincup]

Hello, I have known for quite some time that I am E3/E4 or heterozygous for ApoE4. I am 53 and have been in the prediabetic range for about 2 years. I am a thin prediabetic and I am moderately active. I have had success in bringing down my A1C to 5.4% My fasting blood sugar is not yet where I want it (about 108 currently.) My liver gives me more glucose than I need at night and my pancreas has my blood insulin level at 3 uIU/mL (reference range 4 - 29 uIU/mL.)
I am focusing on improving my diet and increasing my fitness regularity and challenge level. The combination of being prediabetic and heterozygous for ApoE4 has been very motivating. Successfully managing blood sugar helps prevent many diseases, and hoping that we are greatly reducing our risk factor for Alzheimer's disease by managing our blood sugars well too.

Given your low fasting insulin, a couple of thoughts. Fasting blood sugar and A1C are not always indicative of the status of your insulin glucose system.

A glucometer (I've had good luck for accuracy with the Contour Next and also the KetoMojo machines), sampling before and an hour after meals would give you an idea how you are responding to various meals. Secondly, Catherine Crofts did her PhD on Joseph Kraft MD's data. She suggests doing an insulin test exactly 2 hours after your largest/carbiest meal of the day. If you get a result <=30 uIU/mL, you are good. Here is Stavia's post on this. Also in this post, a link to Croft's thesis.