All in the genes

[pgf54]

Its interesting to look at my parents lipids and apoe4 status and compare with mine .................at an elementary level.
My father is 85 and apoe3/3, he has a very sharp memory, the best of all of us however he has never been academic..........He still gets 30/30 on a mini mental test and over 90% on memtrax. His lipids are good , high hdl , mid to low cholesterol, ldl and normal triglycerides. His blood sugars are always normal............He has eaten exactly the same food as Mum for 60 years....(Sad diet)....He has very mild hypertension.
My mother is 81 and apoe3/4, she has alzheimers disease ? which has/is progressing very slowly over 7-8 years since the first signs, she has a dreadful memory as to be expected , is very repetitive, and would be lost outside of the house. She still scores 24/30 on the mini mental, her specialist states its because of her previous academic ability, she had iq over 130 and was financial accounts manager for large hospital.
My mothers lipids are poor, she has very high triglycerides, very high cholesterol,high ldl , low hdl ......She is type two diabetic but not on medications yet. Same food as Dad , very different lipid profiles.............................different apoe status.
Myself aged 60 apoe3/4,...........who has had and would have exactly the same lipid profile as Mum (mirror image so to speak ) and has had the early signs of metabolic syndrome in the past................including being on antihypertensives, increasing blood sugar levels and high fasting insulin levels.
All medications ceased and all good now and the difference my diet and exercise........................hopefully holding back the damage that Mums lipids have reaped.
I find this interesting is this all just due to that one apoe4 allele? Looking back over my ancestors, especially Mums i can almost hazard a guess at whether or not they had the apoe allele from their medical history and cause death. She has had type two diabetes through at least four generations with resultant gangrene and amputations common in her mothers thirteen siblings , cva's and so forth....................Whereas her father was as thin as a rake and sharp as a tack .........................my bet her mother was a 3/4 or 4/4 and father a 3/3..........and her mothers siblings either 3/4 0r 4/4..........however we have never had anyone in the family with an alzheimers diagnosis before, but we have never had anyone live much beyond 80 either, Dad being the longest living of all past generations............................................

[MarcR]

All medications ceased and all good now and the difference my diet and exercise........................hopefully holding back the damage that Mums lipids have reaped.

I wonder about the arrow of causality here. I think of dyslipidemia as a sign of metabolic syndrome and poor glycemic control. Consensus regarding the negative effects of MetS is strong; I think the science around dyslipidemia as a direct cause rather than an effect or co-factor is less settled.

[Tincup]

I wonder about the arrow of causality here. I think of dyslipidemia as a sign of metabolic syndrome and poor glycemic control.... I think the science around dyslipidemia as a direct cause rather than an effect or co-factor is less settled.

I'm not sure dyslipidemia is even a sign of met syndrome. Can be related, but I can be metabolically well and dyslipidemic at the same time, depending on quantity and kind of fat I eat. I concur about arrow of causality.

[Tincup]

duplicate -sorry

[Tincup]

Paul,

I certainly think you're on the right track to not follow in your mother's path. No dispute that T2 is bad and avoiding it good...

[Stavia]

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions including dyslipidaemia which is usually present to make the diagnosis
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-cond ... n-20027243
However George is correct, dyslipidaemia can occur in the absence of metabolic syndrome as there are many causes of many different types of dyslipidaemia.
They are not synonymous.