Emerald wrote:I have a question - I definitely understand the concept of epigenetics and how certain genes can be turned on or off based on emotional, environmental, etc. factors. That said, is APOE4 really one of those genes? Aren't the two copies of APOE we have (whether they're 2, 3, and/or 4) technically always going to be active? I fully understand that we can make choices that influence how APOE works (and significantly decrease the likelihood of Alzheimer's and other issues this way), and APOE interacts with various other genes that can be turned on or off. However, we can't really turn APOE off, can we?
I studied health and diseases, so I apologize if I'm getting too technical. I suspect "turn APOE4 off" is really just a simple way of referring to our ability to make positive choices and lessen its impact (which is totally fine with me!), but wanted to confirm. Thank you!
The research that the Buck Institute researcher published a few years/months ago?
https://www.buckinstitute.org/news/a-su ... lzheimers/Seems germane here. I would imagine that Sinclair's work will show that the epigenetic conditions that permit / encourage APOE to become so aggressive can be "turned back" ? inside the brain?. But I dunno ... many times human cognitive biases tend to oversimplify the path to success for something that turns out to be much more difficult. The intellectual breadth and span of Sinclair's book makes me wonder if he isn't overreaching, not to mention his aggressive ambitious nature. Haven't read the book yet so unfair to state that from my couch of ignorance. Not familiar enough with the mathematician's work to know if perhaps he has Sinclair covered. Hopefully this APOE4 / Sinclair / mathematician angle will be something that folks will begin to examine if only in the context of renewed interest in epigetic drug development beyond the BBB.
Kind of excited about this space, first time in a while... and I've been doing some HDAC stuff etc with some "feel good" results, but honestly not alot of enthusiasm.
I am not sure how this will all fit for the highly undermethylated amongst us. I feel like I have difficulty with regularly taking my methylation vitamins. Also feel like my fasts end up really changing up my body. To the point where I wonder for undermethylators if the answer isn't some "epigenetic turn back the clock" but a nasty fast that trips up a widespread apoptosis / regrowth cycle. I would guess undermethylated amonst us may have more apoptosis during stress, but I dunno... not sure I buy much of anything I read about undermethylation and its associated implications.
Hope you all are well. Cheers.