APOE—The Single Most Important Gene for Longevity
APOE is the primary cholesterol carrier in the brain and plays a major role in packaging and transporting LDL cholesterol throughout the body.
My mom’s mother died of Alzheimer’s, a common cause of dementia, manifesting as the loss of cognitive functioning, such as thinking, recalling, and reasoning, as well as changes in behavior. As a child, I loved spending time with her. She was the perfect—and perfectly doting—grandmother. Later in life, she started to lose her mind. By then, I was in medical school, but my newfound knowledge was useless. She had turned. My previously sweet and stately grandmother now threw things at people. She cursed. Her caretaker showed me the teeth marks on her arm where my once kind, loving grandma had bitten her.
Unlike a problem with your back or even another vital organ, dementia can attack your self. Unlike stroke, which can kill instantly and without any warning, dementia involves a slower, more subtle decline over months or years. With Alzheimer’s, instead of cholesterol-filled plaques in our arteries, plaques made of a substance called amyloid develop in the brain tissue itself, associated with the loss of memory and, eventually, loss of life.
Despite billions spent on research, there is still neither a cure nor an effective treatment, which invariably progresses to death. However, diet and lifestyle changes could potentially prevent millions of cases a year. How? There is an emerging consensus that “what is good for our hearts is also good for our heads,” because clogging of the arteries inside of the brain with atherosclerotic plaque is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Autopsies have shown repeatedly that Alzheimer’s patients tend to have significantly more atherosclerotic plaque buildup and narrowing of the arteries within the brain, and the clogging of the arteries inside, and leading to, the brain with cholesterol-filled plaque may drastically reduce the amount of blood—and therefore oxygen—the brain receives.
The information on this page has been compiled from Dr. Greger’s research. Sources for each video listed can be found by going to the video’s page and clicking on the Sources Cited tab. References may also be found at the back of his books.
Image Credit: Alex Boyd / Unsplash. This image has been modified.
APOE is the primary cholesterol carrier in the brain and plays a major role in packaging and transporting LDL cholesterol throughout the body.
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Weight loss can decrease dementia risk and improve mental performance and infertility.
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Randomized controlled studies put nuts, berries, and grape juice to the test for cognitive function.
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What evidence is there that our meat-sweet diets play a cause-and-effect role in dementia?
The spice saffron is pitted head-to-head against the leading drug for severe Alzheimer’s disease.
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Lemon balm may beat out drugs for controlling the symptoms of severe dementia.
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Diet may explain the Nigerian Paradox, where they have among the highest rates of the Alzheimer’s susceptibility gene, ApoE4, but among the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s disease.
High-tech advances, such as PET scanning, offer new insight into the role cholesterol plays in both the amyloid cascade and vascular models of the development of Alzheimer’s dementia.
Vegetables such as beets and arugula can improve athletic performance by improving oxygen delivery and utilization. But, what about for those who really need it—such as those with emphysema, high blood pressure, and peripheral artery disease?
Lack of adequate blood flow to the brain due to clogging of cerebral arteries may play a pivotal role in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s dementia.
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The mercury content in fish may help explain links found between fish intake and mental disorders, depression, and suicide.
One week on a plant-based diet can significantly drop blood levels of homocysteine, a toxin associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Without vitamin B12 supplementation, though, a long-term plant-based diet could make things worse.
A quick, non-invasive, and inexpensive test for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is developed using only a ruler and some peanut butter.
Organic food consumption appears to reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
A neurotoxin called BMAA that concentrates in seafood may help explain clusters of Lou Gehrig’s disease.