Hi, I'm a 35 year old male from Canada. I'll try to share what's brought me here.
A few months ago my Grandmother passed away from Alzheimer's. Her Mother, my Great Grandmother, had suffered from it before her. My Mom just turned 64 and was a little anxious, knowing it had come for her Mom and Grandmother, and of course, being her son, I was too. I decided to get us 23andMe tests as a Christmas gift and after I studied a little about how Alzheimer genetic testing works, I fully expected each of us to come back 3/4 and be ok with that. Well, I was half right. My Mom did come back 3/4. I came back 4/4.
It's hit me a lot harder than I could've predicted, knowing that I have what is a fairly rare roll of the genetic dice and a hugely increased risk of AD. I was really expecting 3/4 for me, as to the best of my knowledge, there's no real AD or dementia in my Dad's side of the family. My Mom took her news fine, but I've been stunned by mine all day. I feel like a ceiling is slowing lowering onto me, like there's a limit to my life now.
I've always been more of an indoor kid, the brainy one of the family. I love reading and learning new things. I could deal with some pretty severe physical problems if I knew I still had my mind intact, and the idea of losing any bit it, of losing myself, terrifies me. My Grandma was smart, kept extremely active socially, did crosswords, danced every week, and it was horrifying to see her personality and memory fade, and then her ability to even understand or communicate.
Obviously, I have a huge fear of Alzheimer's hitting me when I'm 55, 65, 75. But what scares me just as much is the here and now. I have a lot to learn about Alzheimer's, but I know the damage builds over time. My mind, my mental sharpness, it's super important to me, and just the idea of it slowing eroding away year by year until the actually disease presents itself in it's obvious forms, that's what's paralyzing me. Already in the last two or three years I've noticed not being quite as mentally quick as I used to be, forgetting things a little more, a little duller at times, some brain fog. I chalked that up to hitting my mid-30s and aging, I mean, my body is slowing/sagging a little bit too, but now in the wake of my Grandmother's death and this test result, it's hard not to just constantly worry that it's part of a slow process.
I've spent some of the day reading online. I'm going to read The End of Alzheimer's by Dale Bredesen, I've found this forum, and I'm going to try to make positive changes. I don't drink, smoke, or hit my head (More than the average klutzy 6'2" man, anyway), but I'm overweight and haven't had a physical in my adult life, so I know those two things need to change. I actually decided to start losing weight a year ago and have gone from 285 to 235 in that time, although I still have another 35 to go to hit that normal BMI. I think the harder part for me is it sounds like I'm going to have to avoid carbs and sugars, and those are my two huge weaknesses. I'm a carb junkie with a sweet tooth and I've lost the weight by regularly exercising and eating a diet that's very low in calories and fat but still high in carbs and processed sugars six days a week, and then allowing myself one cheat day a week to let loose. It's worked for my weight, but obviously, I'm now far more worried about what my brain needs than what my waist does.
I'm kind of in awe and how proactive and brave you all seem to be. I'm terrified and depressed and feel kind of paralyzed. Hopefully that's just the shock of learning this and it wears off. I know my next step should be seeing a doctor and getting some blood tests, but I'm not even sure what I should say and what I should ask for. Thanks for creating this forum.