3.22.2006
Memory Loss and Your Genes: From the Dawn of Time Forward
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Your genes play a surprisingly important role in determining your risk factors for memory loss.
While Memory Loss and Alzheimer's can affect people regardless of their genetic type depending on their age and lifestyle behaviors, APOEe4 has been noted by researchers for its greater than average link to Coronary Artery Disease and Alzheimer's Disease. Individuals with the homogenous zygote of APOEe4 represent a substantial percentage of the population around the world and in the U.S. According to researchers, APOEe4 individuals are at greater risk for early memory loss and Alzheimer's, with the disease often going undetected in the brain for decades.
Interestingly, people taking the tests from cognitivelabs.com get first-hand access to some of the technologies used in Stanford research studies of individuals at risk for Alzheimer's Disease.
sources:
Apolipoprotein E (APOE) allele distribution in the world. Is APOE*4 a 'thrifty' allele?
History Since the Last Ice Age
MIT Perspectives on Molecular Evolution
Slower Speed-of-Processing Is Associated with Presence of the Apolipoprotein ε4 Allele - Topic: Clinical assessment - Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Institute of Aging, New York City: APOE Catalyst Conference - presentation by J. Wesson Ashford, M.D.,Stanford/VA Alzheimer's Center, Stanford, CA
