Does 'simple' mean 'you can buy it in Amazon and perform it in the privacy of your own home'? Because needing to book an office visit with someone who has had about a decade of medical training just to get the test done is not exactly 'simple' in my book. And sharing those results with the increasingly invasive systems of insurance and government and otherwise doesn't fill me with anticipation.
Overall I definitely do want to know, though. If I know that I am highly likely to contract dementia I can start doing things to attempt to combat it, or at least plan 5 or so years before that point to begin using hard drugs. You don't get any money back if you leave your body in good shape. I'd prefer to slide it smoking and smouldering across the finish line, missing both bumpers and with only one headlight hanging out. Then explode.
It's a heck of a lot simpler than a brain autopsy, or a spinal tap.
And the real breakthrough isn't about people being able to know their demise, it's that they're are a lot of things that we suspect from a epidemiological perspective lower rates of alzheimer's but which have no effect once the disease is progressed.
1. The actions you should take if you knew that a serious disorder was coming for you will probably be beneficial one way or another.
2. There is nothing you can do about Alzheimers.
3. The only reason you wouldn't live the best, healthiest life you could now is because of an incorrect notion that you'll probably be fine until some set time (e.g. retirement)
Knowing these things, and the fact that stress has a negative effect on your health should compel anyone who reads the article to just live a sustainable life.
Since everyone dies and everyone knows it, the priority should be on living a nice life, free from the illusion that you'll live any given duration. Ideally, being diagnosed with something like Alzheimers would result in a shrug, just like how you would shrug if someone told you you're gonna die one day.
Alzheimers would result in a shrug, just like how you would shrug if someone told you you're gonna die one day.
Alzheimer's isn't like being dead though. It's an incredibly painful reminder to everyone you've every loved that you are no longer "you", but they have to take care of you every day anyways. Painfully re-opening wounds every time you don't remember who they are, or hurt yourself from confusion. It's a continuous living purgatory for your loved ones, with you gone but not gone.
I'd rather live the best, unhealthiest life, and hope I'm dead dead from other causes before I can cause so much pain to the ones I love.
>Ideally, being diagnosed with something like Alzheimers would result in a shrug, just like how you would shrug if someone told you you're gonna die one day.
That isn't reality, though. I wouldn't want to have that big black cloud hanging over me.
If I'm not having symptoms, and there's no way to treat the disease they want to test for, I've no interest in taking the test. Life is stressful enough.
I knew a guy who was diagnosed with cancer, freaked out, and had a fatal heart attack a few days later. Maybe that was already in the cards, but I suspect he'd have lived for a few more years without that cancer diagnosis.
(It hasn't been traumatic knowledge for me -- anyone with severe dementia in their biological family knows that there is some heredity there, whether or not they know they have this particular gene variant)
I also learned I have one variant (not two) and was already fairly aware as well due to my family history. I already live as healthy a life as I can and focus on enjoying it. Can't really do much of anything else.
To me the greatest benefit of this knowledge is being able to prepare loved ones and family for the inevitable - beyond that, there's not really much to be done and the knowledge hasn't really impacted me much.
I sympathize with this viewpoint, but I need to play devil's advocate a little, to highlight the problems with predictive diagnoses:
Most Americans with this genotype go on to develop late-onset dementia.
Let's say "most" is 90%. Let's also say the accuracy of this test is (and I don't know if this is realistic or not) 98%.
Does the 11.8% chance of no dementia on a positive result give me enough to follow through with a plan? For me, no, though I appreciate attitudes would vary.
Pardon the editorial (I realize it's not very HN) but this type of fear mongering fluff does the public more harm than good.
The point being epigenetic is real. It does the general public more harm than good to perpetuate the myth that they (via lifestyle, diet, etc.) have no say in their genetic destiny.
No doubt sometimes some of these genes really matter. But often they are dormant notes of what might be if you don't take care of yourself.
p.s. I just finished reading "Grain Brain." Regardless of what you think about gluten, he makes very strong case for: where you take your body, your brain is going to follow. He mentions Alzheimer's often.
> Meclofenoxate (centrophenoxine), as well as DMAE, have been found to increase the lifespans of mice by 30–50%, and thus may be anti-aging drugs/supplements.
Are you taking it for a specific reason? Or do you consider this a generally good supplement?
Can Alzheimer's disease also be known as Type 3 diabetes?
"Brain insulin resistance (diabetes) is very much like regular diabetes," de la Monte said. "Since the underlying problems continue to be just about the same, we believe that the development of new therapies would be applicable for all types of diabetes, including Alzheimer's disease, which we refer to as Type III diabetes."
Suzanne M. de la Monte, Edward Re, Lisa Longato, Ming Tong. Dysfunctional Pro-Ceramide, ER Stress, and Insulin/IGF Signaling Networks with Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, June 22, 2012, supplement; DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2012-111728
Same author four years prior:
"brain insulin resistance is sufficient to cause AD and that additional significant abnormalities, such as ongoing DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, are required."
Your last quote is the opposite of what the paper says. The authors write that insulin resistance is not sufficient to cause AD and that other things are required:
> Therefore, T2DM and obesity may contribute to, i.e., serve as cofactors of AD but by themselves are probably not sufficient to cause AD. Moreover, the findings in the T2DM/obesity model indicate the unlikelihood [emphasis here] that brain insulin resistance is sufficient to cause AD and that additional significant abnormalities, such as ongoing DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, are required.
I know genetically for some this may be unavoidable but perhaps by living a healthy life you could delay it to a point where you would pass away before it took over.
Obesity, Insulin Resistance, have been linked to this disease/condition. Maybe regular fasting, exercise, taking supplements (Lions Mane come to mind), CBD oil, coconut oil, medications like Metaformin, etc might help. It would be worth a shot since there are no real alternatives at the moment.
I've had the same thought. I don't know that the meditation would slow down dementia, but I could hopefully cultivate mindfulness and cheerfulness, lest I become more and more frustrated at the world as I begin to lose comprehension of it. Also, some good drugs would be nice too.
I am getting a bit irritated when I read the news about Alzheimers since for a couple of years there is a treatment which was developed by Dr Dale Bredesen. Dr Bredesen looked at all factors which were linked with Alzheimers and combined many together into a treatment strategy. He also defined 3 subtypes of Alzheimers. The result is that his treatment cures 9 out 10 patients with mild Alzheimers. The fact that Bill Gates invests in new drug treatments is insane.
for me, using 23andme and other components of genetic testing related to health risk factors (all four of my grandparents passed away from or are currently battling cancer) helped me make some long-term decisions regarding my habits and lifestyle, and it did influence my decision to go into a healthcare-related field as a career. I like to think of it more as "I'd like to know what I'm up against," rather than "I have a morbid curiosity about what non-accident deaths will most likely happen to me"
I'd fly to Africa, walk out into a herd of Cape Buffalo, and slap one of those bastards right in the face as hard as I could. Why people want to live forever is beyond me.
I have the same reaction when someone says they only want to live ~80 years. What a terrible outcome when the universe is so massive. There's so much to see, do, try, experience and learn.
There are trillions of galaxies out there and every one of them is different. I could easily happily fill thousands of years just in our solar system.
I'd like to live long enough to explore other solar systems and galaxies and yet the earth by itself is far too large to ever meaningfully explore in a few lifetimes, much less one.
I simply want to see what all is out there. Now, granted, plenty of people consider that a very selfish desire (based on a scarce resources premise) and I'll openly admit to that. It's about as selfish a desire as there can be. I'm ok with that, it's also not a desire that can be actual (not in my lifetime anyway). As such it's equivalent to wanting to be able to fly around like Superman. My desire to learn and experience more will never halt, as such my desire to live an extremely long time will never cease.
[+] [-] otakucode|8 years ago|reply
Overall I definitely do want to know, though. If I know that I am highly likely to contract dementia I can start doing things to attempt to combat it, or at least plan 5 or so years before that point to begin using hard drugs. You don't get any money back if you leave your body in good shape. I'd prefer to slide it smoking and smouldering across the finish line, missing both bumpers and with only one headlight hanging out. Then explode.
[+] [-] JamesBarney|8 years ago|reply
And the real breakthrough isn't about people being able to know their demise, it's that they're are a lot of things that we suspect from a epidemiological perspective lower rates of alzheimer's but which have no effect once the disease is progressed.
[+] [-] frankling_|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jashper|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] of|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] _m8fo|8 years ago|reply
1. The actions you should take if you knew that a serious disorder was coming for you will probably be beneficial one way or another.
2. There is nothing you can do about Alzheimers.
3. The only reason you wouldn't live the best, healthiest life you could now is because of an incorrect notion that you'll probably be fine until some set time (e.g. retirement)
Knowing these things, and the fact that stress has a negative effect on your health should compel anyone who reads the article to just live a sustainable life.
Since everyone dies and everyone knows it, the priority should be on living a nice life, free from the illusion that you'll live any given duration. Ideally, being diagnosed with something like Alzheimers would result in a shrug, just like how you would shrug if someone told you you're gonna die one day.
[+] [-] dsp1234|8 years ago|reply
Alzheimer's isn't like being dead though. It's an incredibly painful reminder to everyone you've every loved that you are no longer "you", but they have to take care of you every day anyways. Painfully re-opening wounds every time you don't remember who they are, or hurt yourself from confusion. It's a continuous living purgatory for your loved ones, with you gone but not gone.
I'd rather live the best, unhealthiest life, and hope I'm dead dead from other causes before I can cause so much pain to the ones I love.
[+] [-] gozur88|8 years ago|reply
That isn't reality, though. I wouldn't want to have that big black cloud hanging over me.
If I'm not having symptoms, and there's no way to treat the disease they want to test for, I've no interest in taking the test. Life is stressful enough.
I knew a guy who was diagnosed with cancer, freaked out, and had a fatal heart attack a few days later. Maybe that was already in the cards, but I suspect he'd have lived for a few more years without that cancer diagnosis.
[+] [-] llamataboot|8 years ago|reply
(It hasn't been traumatic knowledge for me -- anyone with severe dementia in their biological family knows that there is some heredity there, whether or not they know they have this particular gene variant)
[+] [-] bri3d|8 years ago|reply
To me the greatest benefit of this knowledge is being able to prepare loved ones and family for the inevitable - beyond that, there's not really much to be done and the knowledge hasn't really impacted me much.
[+] [-] shazam|8 years ago|reply
Would you have wanted to find out if you were in your 20's?
[+] [-] ams6110|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mythrwy|8 years ago|reply
Point being, watch the weather and plan, fine, but don't become certain until you see rain falling from the sky.
[+] [-] petercooper|8 years ago|reply
Most Americans with this genotype go on to develop late-onset dementia.
Let's say "most" is 90%. Let's also say the accuracy of this test is (and I don't know if this is realistic or not) 98%.
Does the 11.8% chance of no dementia on a positive result give me enough to follow through with a plan? For me, no, though I appreciate attitudes would vary.
[+] [-] chiefalchemist|8 years ago|reply
The point being epigenetic is real. It does the general public more harm than good to perpetuate the myth that they (via lifestyle, diet, etc.) have no say in their genetic destiny.
No doubt sometimes some of these genes really matter. But often they are dormant notes of what might be if you don't take care of yourself.
p.s. I just finished reading "Grain Brain." Regardless of what you think about gluten, he makes very strong case for: where you take your body, your brain is going to follow. He mentions Alzheimer's often.
[+] [-] Danihan|8 years ago|reply
It's not just gluten. Look into enrichment. https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*pBs90R1LfdGOfpTS....
Most people are actually sensitive to the additives added to fortified wheat sold in the States, especially Vitamin B[0] and Iron[1].
[0]: https://freetheanimal.com/2016/05/enrichment-promotes-everyt...
[1]: https://freetheanimal.com/2015/06/enrichment-theory-everythi...
[+] [-] ninjakeyboard|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] amelius|8 years ago|reply
> Meclofenoxate (centrophenoxine), as well as DMAE, have been found to increase the lifespans of mice by 30–50%, and thus may be anti-aging drugs/supplements.
Are you taking it for a specific reason? Or do you consider this a generally good supplement?
[+] [-] bdamm|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] intro-b|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jjawssd|8 years ago|reply
"Brain insulin resistance (diabetes) is very much like regular diabetes," de la Monte said. "Since the underlying problems continue to be just about the same, we believe that the development of new therapies would be applicable for all types of diabetes, including Alzheimer's disease, which we refer to as Type III diabetes."
Suzanne M. de la Monte, Edward Re, Lisa Longato, Ming Tong. Dysfunctional Pro-Ceramide, ER Stress, and Insulin/IGF Signaling Networks with Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, June 22, 2012, supplement; DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2012-111728
Same author four years prior:
"brain insulin resistance is sufficient to cause AD and that additional significant abnormalities, such as ongoing DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, are required."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/
[+] [-] trendia|8 years ago|reply
> Therefore, T2DM and obesity may contribute to, i.e., serve as cofactors of AD but by themselves are probably not sufficient to cause AD. Moreover, the findings in the T2DM/obesity model indicate the unlikelihood [emphasis here] that brain insulin resistance is sufficient to cause AD and that additional significant abnormalities, such as ongoing DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, are required.
[+] [-] hourislate|8 years ago|reply
Obesity, Insulin Resistance, have been linked to this disease/condition. Maybe regular fasting, exercise, taking supplements (Lions Mane come to mind), CBD oil, coconut oil, medications like Metaformin, etc might help. It would be worth a shot since there are no real alternatives at the moment.
[+] [-] 0xcde4c3db|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tequila_shot|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Buttons840|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shazam|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mhkool|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arikr|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LordHumungous|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] intro-b|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alakin|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] jksmith|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adventured|8 years ago|reply
I have the same reaction when someone says they only want to live ~80 years. What a terrible outcome when the universe is so massive. There's so much to see, do, try, experience and learn.
There are trillions of galaxies out there and every one of them is different. I could easily happily fill thousands of years just in our solar system.
I'd like to live long enough to explore other solar systems and galaxies and yet the earth by itself is far too large to ever meaningfully explore in a few lifetimes, much less one.
I simply want to see what all is out there. Now, granted, plenty of people consider that a very selfish desire (based on a scarce resources premise) and I'll openly admit to that. It's about as selfish a desire as there can be. I'm ok with that, it's also not a desire that can be actual (not in my lifetime anyway). As such it's equivalent to wanting to be able to fly around like Superman. My desire to learn and experience more will never halt, as such my desire to live an extremely long time will never cease.
[+] [-] rhaps0dy|8 years ago|reply
Wouldn't you prefer, if you could, to live for longer free of Alzheimer's?
[+] [-] miguelrochefort|8 years ago|reply