Chris Hemsworth On Friday it was revealed that he has two genes that put him at higher risk. Alzheimer’s disease Better than the average person, but a neurologist tells The Daily Beast that it’s not necessarily cause for alarm.
of revelation Featured in recent episodes of Hemsworth’s National Geographic series infiniteairing on Disney+, purported to offer “fascinating insights into how we can all unlock our bodies’ superpowers to fight disease, perform better, and reverse the aging process.” It’s purpose.
In Episode 5, titled “Memory,” Dr. Peter Attia tells the Australian actor that he has two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from his mother and one from his father. This makes him up to 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease compared to the average person, Attia says. Hemsworth, straight and listening intently to the doctor’s words, reacts gloomily to the news. In his subsequently filmed confession, he says he was “devastated.”
This information was apparently so sensitive that Attia called infinite Creator Darren Aronofsky told him he wanted the news in person, not on camera, Hemsworth said vanity fairadded that the whole thing was “pretty shocking.”
Colin Pettigrew, PhD, leader of outreach, recruitment and engagement at Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Research Center, says only about 2-3% of people have both copies of the gene.
And it’s not guaranteed that Hemsworth will develop the disease.
A crash course in genetics may be helpful as a starting point. The gene for apolipoprotein E (APOE) tells the body how to make the protein of the same name. This protein helps metabolize fat and transport cholesterol in the body. This gene has variations or alleles called APOE2, APOE3, and APOE4.
The APOE4 gene “has the lowest risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Lawrence S Honig, professor of neurology at Columbia University and director of the New York State Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s disease.
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“It’s true that having one or two APOE4 does increase the risk, but it’s not definitive, so testing outside of a research environment is usually not useful,” Honig told The Daily Beast. I’m here.
Honig and Sam Gandy, professor of neurology and director of the Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health, emphasize that a significant fraction of people with Alzheimer’s disease (one-third to one-half) do not carry the APOE4 gene at all. increase.
“Not everyone with two copies will develop Alzheimer’s disease,” says Gandy. “Few people get away with it. Diet and lifestyle are important.”
Also, genes’ resistance to the worst of impacts is important, and some genes seem to have more impact than others. There could be,” Gandhi says.
Although the exact relationship between APOE4 and Alzheimer’s disease has not been established, studies have shown a link between this gene and the accumulation of amyloid plaques and tau ‘tangles’. This gene also disrupts the blood-brain barrier. “It’s important that the proteins in the blood are separated from the proteins in the brain. People with this gene are more prone to leaky blood-brain barriers,” Gandhi explains. In addition, APOE4 is thought to produce proteins that help transport cholesterol. Myelin is the insulating layer that allows nerve cells to develop electrical properties to communicate with each other, and it requires large amounts of cholesterol.This gene may “compromise” the amount of cholesterol myelin receives. There is, he says, Gandy. A fourth link is that the APOE4 gene stimulates inflammation.
But because the disease is so tied to your genetic make-up, Honig doesn’t want to recommend anyone get tested like Hemsworth did.
“What is he going to do with that information?” Honig says. “The answer is that there is not much you can do with that information because you don’t know if you will get Alzheimer’s disease. There is currently no clear way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.”
Pettigrew agrees. Although she has seen estimates that a patient with two of her APOE4 alleles has a 10-fold higher risk than someone without, she said, “There’s nothing we can do at this point. What we know will definitely stop or prevent dementia.”
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For Marvel star Hemsworth Thor franchise, the news that he had two APOE4 alleles was all the more poignant given that his grandfather is now living with an incurable disease.
“I don’t know if he actually remembers much anymore. He goes in and out of his original language, Dutch, so he speaks Dutch and English, then mashups, and maybe other new words as well. I guess,” said the 39-year-old. vanity fair.
Hemsworth said the news and the show as a whole had forced him to take a step back, considering his lifestyle. are planning
Overall, positive lifestyle changes such as a heart-healthy diet, exercise, and regular social interaction have the worst effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related conditions, even when they appear to be at high risk. Doctors agree that it helps keep the disease at bay.
“Even if you can put it off for 10 years, that’s a huge increase in the cognitive and functional time you have,” says Pettigrew.
Honig adds that some of the drugs currently in development offer hope. One drug in particular has shown that people with APOE4 can benefit more from its use.
“Having one or two APOE4s increases the amount of amyloid protein in blood vessels as well as throughout the brain,” says Honig. But it could mean that the antibodies work better against amyloid, just as side effects occur.”
There is hope, but until these drugs are more thoroughly researched and marketed more broadly, “you’re kind of tied to your genes,” says Honig.
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