Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, and other chronic diseases; biomarkers, lifestyle, supplements, drugs, and health care.
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Swil211
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Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

Post by Swil211 »

For ApoE4 carriers, can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low beginning in early adulthood? I find it difficult to accept that there’s such limited research on young adults in their 20s and 30s with ApoE4.
Plumster
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Re: Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

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It's a good start! Low LDL will likely help keep the risk of diabetes lower. But there are so many other factors to consider, especially inflammation from environmental toxins like pollution, mold, and heavy metals. We have to keep everything running optimally--nutrients, thyroid, etc.
e3/4 MTHFR C677T/A1298C COMT V158M++ COMT H62H++ MTRR A66G ++ HLA DR
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Re: Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

Post by NF52 »

Swil211 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:53 pm For ApoE4 carriers, can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low beginning in early adulthood? I find it difficult to accept that there’s such limited research on young adults in their 20s and 30s with ApoE4.
You're not alone in wanting to both contribute to research in young ApoE 4 carriers and being frustrated at not seeing such research. Because the time frame for changes in ApoE4 is measured in decades, not years, the research that IS focused on what happens in the young is happening right now in labs around the world. It focuses on looking at inflammation, blood-brain barrier functioning, the role of exercise, diet, hormones, repetitive mild TBI, and other upstream events that cause proteins like amyloid monomers, alpha-synuclein and neurofilament light (Nfl) to misfold. It also looks at developing plasma-based biomarkers that could be used to track subtle changes years or decades before amyloid or tau becomes evident on a PET scan. So don't despair; lots of NIH and even DOD funding is going to improve prevention and assessment before Alzheimer's is evident.

Families of people with dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease are also contributing to this research, with the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network doing both clinical research and patient registries that may hasten the day when we have early prevention for ApoE 4/4 carriers also.
4/4 and still an optimist!
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TheresaB
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Re: Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

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Swil211 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 5:53 pm For ApoE4 carriers, can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low beginning in early adulthood? I find it difficult to accept that there’s such limited research on young adults in their 20s and 30s with ApoE4.
Given all the variables that seem to contribute to Alzheimer's, and the other conditions we're susceptible to besides Alzheimer's, my knee jerk reaction to this was, no, it can't be as simple as that.

But I'd really like to hear your theory as to why you think this is so.
-Theresa
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Re: Can the answer be as simple as keeping LDL low in early adulthood?

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I'll be curious to see how I fare with my one APOE gene. I've always had a lower than normal LDL, and a high HDL (except for the time I tried keto). When I tried keto, my LDL rose into the normal range. I also have a disaccharidase deficiency so, I don't digest sugar and starch well. Probably not coincidentally, I don't care for sweets, so my sugar intake may have been less than usual over the years. I hope the science community will provide insight how different circumstances/genes impact risk.
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