Now I know--APOE status

[anne from california]

I got my 23andMe/Promethease results back and I'm E3/E3. My 23andMe report showed no variants for anything scary (that they test for). Promethease was a little less glowing, although overwhelmingly "good" on my pie chart--my highest magnitude was 3.5, for thyroid cancer (5x risk), and the scariest thing on the list was for ALS (magnitude 2, on GS102, and based on a study of 1,000 Europeans that could only be replicated in Irish people (??)--I could find so little information, though, that I decided it was one of those parts of the Wild Wild West that I, with the worry gene variant, best stay out of until it's a bit more developed). The report did possibly explain a few things that have turned up in my family--dad's prostate cancer, perhaps, and some of the drug metabolism stuff was pretty interesting and maybe explanatory for weird reactions I've had to some supplements and hormones. And some non-surprises: no breast cancer variants (which I already knew from a study I'm in) and yes for possible B27 syndromes (I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis 30 years ago) and, yep, blue eyes.

I'm unclear on some of the methylation stuff (possibly I don't process folate properly), and will ask Dr. Hathaway to help me understand that and supplement appropriately. She's been helping me optimize hormones, and I'll see her again in a few weeks once the rest of my nutritional evaluation test results are in. My blood sugar (A1C 5.0, gluc 82) and lipids numbers (HDL 75, trigs 52) were pretty good, so I expect we'll be discussing some fine tuning on different points.

Even though I'm not APOE4, I hope I'm still welcome here. The primer has been so helpful, as have so many of you, and some of the Bredesen basics I've been following--like getting better sleep, prioritizing daily exercise and mostly following the 12/3 diet--have boosted my energy and mental sharpness. I don't know that I would've pursued bHRT if I hadn't found this group, and that's been a huge help. My point is, there is so much brainpower here that's helpful for EVERYBODY--and I'm so very grateful.

[TheBrain]

Anne, congratulations on not having ApoE4! Of course, you are still welcome here. Keep sharing. Keep asking questions. I wish all people with E3/E3 would be as motivated as you to optimize their health.

[reluctantexan]

Definitely positive to stick to this Board. My APOE status is the same as yours, but I'm even more motivated now to learn about AD and share what I've learned. Thinking of starting a church study group. Most people would rather pretend AD doesn't exist and/or that they will never get the diagnosis. Those same people don't think they'll die, either, but we know we all will. My goal is a healthy, happy life, however long it turns out to be. Try not to get bogged down with any variants. Nothing to be done about them, is there?

[circular]

anne you set a great example. Age is *still* the number one risk factor for AD, and we keep living longer on the whole. We ApoE4 folks sometimes call ourselves the canaries in the coalmine because we’re more susceptible to lifestyle assaults, but the canaries are to warn the unwary of trouble. So 3/3s who will live a long life, and many of whom will get AD, should feel some connection with us, and yes, I think are most welcome to learn and contribute here as far as I know.

[slacker]

anne from california - you are welcome here! I appreciate your contributions. We continue to learn and grow together...

[floramaria]

Anne from california, so happy you will be staying with us!