Dealt the 4/4 gene card and have intense anxiety about basically everything
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:24 pm
Hello All,
I received my results from 23andme about 2 years ago. Initially, I noticed that I had an “increased risk” of getting late-onset Alzheimer’s. I didn’t think anymore of it because I worry a lot and didn’t want to add this to the list. Today I was assigned homework in my biochemistry course asking about Apo-E and it’s link to Alzheimer’s. I’m looking into this subject and thinking “wow, this is scary.” Then, I’m thinking about my results and decided to look more into them. Low and behold, I have two Apo-E4’s (thanks mom and dad :/). As you can imagine, I have since went into a spiral of dread, fear, and worry with many shed tears. I am a worrier and will probably end up obsessing about this for a while. I’ve done a bit of reading (on here), which has calmed my nervous. I have a few things I’m curious about and was wonder if someone could help satiated my curiosity. First, Ive read in a research paper that 4/4’s have a 91% chance of getting AD at the age of 68. Is this still substantiated? I believe this was research from 1997, but am unsure. Secondly, I’ve read that 2-3% of the population is 4/4. How do they know this if genetically testing is sparse? Third, I’ve read about the input of your genetic data into another program (Promethease?) to get more information, such as early-onset Alzheimer’s associated genes. My grandmother recently passed at 94 and she was sharp as a tack. My grandfather is 75 and is also sharp as a tack. As far as I know, no one in my family has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Based on these facts, I think it’s best that I don’t look further into my genetics. But, I’m wondering if knowing and being able to combat it would be better? Fourth, my mother knows that she is 3/4, but my father doesn’t know my results. He has to be x/4. Should I tell him? Fifth and final, I am in my early twenty’s. What are the most important health steps to implement? I read over the health info in the opener, but it’s a bit overwhelming. From what I’ve gathered, I should be more concerned with cardiovascular health than memory loss/AD. If you’ve made it the end of this, thank you so much. I’m not sure where to go from here and need someone to talk to about this.
Sincerely,
A girl who wants to live a long, healthy life.
P.s stay safe out there!
I received my results from 23andme about 2 years ago. Initially, I noticed that I had an “increased risk” of getting late-onset Alzheimer’s. I didn’t think anymore of it because I worry a lot and didn’t want to add this to the list. Today I was assigned homework in my biochemistry course asking about Apo-E and it’s link to Alzheimer’s. I’m looking into this subject and thinking “wow, this is scary.” Then, I’m thinking about my results and decided to look more into them. Low and behold, I have two Apo-E4’s (thanks mom and dad :/). As you can imagine, I have since went into a spiral of dread, fear, and worry with many shed tears. I am a worrier and will probably end up obsessing about this for a while. I’ve done a bit of reading (on here), which has calmed my nervous. I have a few things I’m curious about and was wonder if someone could help satiated my curiosity. First, Ive read in a research paper that 4/4’s have a 91% chance of getting AD at the age of 68. Is this still substantiated? I believe this was research from 1997, but am unsure. Secondly, I’ve read that 2-3% of the population is 4/4. How do they know this if genetically testing is sparse? Third, I’ve read about the input of your genetic data into another program (Promethease?) to get more information, such as early-onset Alzheimer’s associated genes. My grandmother recently passed at 94 and she was sharp as a tack. My grandfather is 75 and is also sharp as a tack. As far as I know, no one in my family has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Based on these facts, I think it’s best that I don’t look further into my genetics. But, I’m wondering if knowing and being able to combat it would be better? Fourth, my mother knows that she is 3/4, but my father doesn’t know my results. He has to be x/4. Should I tell him? Fifth and final, I am in my early twenty’s. What are the most important health steps to implement? I read over the health info in the opener, but it’s a bit overwhelming. From what I’ve gathered, I should be more concerned with cardiovascular health than memory loss/AD. If you’ve made it the end of this, thank you so much. I’m not sure where to go from here and need someone to talk to about this.
Sincerely,
A girl who wants to live a long, healthy life.
P.s stay safe out there!