Reimagining Alzheimer’s (Part 3): The APOE Story In Alzheimer’s And Other Diseases
(Posted on Monday, October 17, 2022)
This article is the third installment in my series on Alzheimer’s disease. Read more about Alzheimer’s disease in part 1 and part 2 of the series.
Alzheimer’s is a serious disease that affects nearly 6 million people in the United States. Interestingly, some people have a much higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s than others, especially as they age. A principal risk factor of Alzheimer’s disease depends on a single gene called Apolipoprotein E (APOE). By having two copies of a particular APOE variant called APOE4, you become twenty times more likely to develop the disease. Although APOE4 is not the only inherited cause of Alzheimer’s, it is by far the most predominant. For this reason, APOE demands some special attention as to what it is and how it works.