Is Genetic Testing the Best Choice for Alzheimer’s?

Nate Ware

The thought of losing memory of your friends and family is an extremely scary thought. Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative condition that affects cognitive function and memory. If any one of you, like me, has gone through the progression of this disease with a family member you know the sadness associated with looking your loved one in the face and them not remembering who you are. The pain this disease causes to loved ones is immense. If you have seen this disease in your family you may be wondering what your chances of developing the condition are. Lucky for you there are genetic tests that you could take to see if you are at an increased risk for the disease.

What are my chances?

According to 23 and Me, Alzheimer’s is 60-80% caused by genetics. This means that the majority of your risk comes from genetic factors. But it also shows that environmental factors can play a fairly large role in your risk as well. Regardless, if there is family history it is good to be aware of your risk. Genetic testing for Alzheimer’s is relatively new in terms of genetic tests for disease because according to alzheimers.org.uk, ” At present, the relationship between genetics and dementia is not fully understood.” However, it has been found that there is a connection between the APOE gene and Alzheimer’s risk. The -e4 variant of this gene is known to cause increase risk of Alzheimer’s to people with this mutation. It is not a defining factor though, according to Mayo Clinic, ” not everyone who has one or even two APOE e4 genes develops Alzheimer’s disease. And the disease occurs in many people who don’t even have an APOE e4 gene, suggesting that the APOE e4 gene affects risk but is not a cause”.

Image result for alzheimer's genetic testing

So What Is The Test?

An individual that is interested in genetic testing for Alzheimer’s would receive a single gene sequencing of the APOE gene looking for SNPs at rs7412 and rs429358. If both come back with the C allele, then the individual has the -e4 variant indicating increased risk for Alzheimer’s. So far we can not give a definite number as to how much this result increases your risk by. Also this gene is not the sole genetic indicator of Alzheimer’s so a negative result does not mean you are still not at risk especially if you have family history. It is because of this that I don’t think the test is especially worth it. Yes, you could find out you are at an increased risk and yes, you could start preparing for care, but I think that this test is fairly insignificant in terms of your overall Alzheimer’s risk. Since there is such a large amount of factors that go into developing this disease both genetic and environmental, I believe individuals with family history should do what they can to make the most of life, not worrying about their timeline. I’m not saying they should do nothing though. Individuals should take charge and control what they can. The Mayo Clinic states that there are ways to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. These include:

Avoid smoking.
Control vascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Eat a balanced diet — such as the Mediterranean diet — that’s rich in vegetables, fruits and lean protein, particularly protein sources containing omega-3 fatty acids.
Be physically and socially active, including engaging in aerobic exercise.
Take care of your mental health.
Use thinking (cognitive) skills, such as memory skills.

Alzheimer’s is an awful disease that affects lots of families. That’s why I believe until testing improves to pinpoint risk of the disease, people should to their best to reduce their risk by living a lifestyle that is aware but not fearful of their risk of Alzheimer’s.

Sources

“Alzheimer’s Prevention: Does It Exist?” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 20 Apr. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-prevention/faq-20058140.

“The Role of Genes in Your Alzheimer’s Risk.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 19 Apr. 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/in-depth/alzheimers-genes/art-20046552.

“Alzheimer’s Society’s View on Genetic Testing.” Alzheimer’s Society, www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/policy-and-influencing/what-we-think/genetic-testing.

“APOE Apolipoprotein E [Homo Sapiens (Human)] – Gene – NCBI.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/348.

Project Reflection- Nate Ware

For my outreach project, I went with David, Richard, Will, and Stephen to tell tailgaters about recycling and encourage them to do so. We walked around Myers Quad and handed out trash bags and recycling bags to tailgaters and talked to them about the benefits of recycling. We also offered pins and fliers that help identify what is and what isn’t recyclable. Ahead of time we scoped out the tailgating locations that we felt we could help inform the greatest amount of people. We decided that Myers quad, since there is a large population of tailgaters there every week, would be the best place to conduct this project. We took turns walking up to tailgates and handing out recycling bags and talking to them about how recycling can benefit the sustainability here at UGA. By recycling and making sure trash is placed in trash bags we can make sure the tailgating tradition continues and the campus will remain as beautiful as ever. We addressed the three characteristics of information delivery. We always made sure to lead with an introduction followed by an interesting fact to make it intellectually stimulating. If we noticed the tailgate was missing anything in particular we made sure to offer it to them to keep it relevant to the audience. We were all competing to come up with more creative ways to introduce ourselves to engage the audience to what we had to say. One of the discoveries I made was that most tailgaters were very eager to do their part to help keep the campus beautiful, something that going into the day I was not confident of. I also learned that a lot of people already come prepared with trash bags, but they often forget about recycling. We had much more difficulty handing out trash bags because more people already had them. We looked for tailgates without trash bags and recycling bags in order to decide which tailgates we should approach. We also made sure not to approach if we felt we would be interrupting a conversation that may be important or personal. Personally, if I were to do something differently it would be prepare more factual evidence ahead of time in case people asked more follow up questions. Through this experience, I was able to see the causes of pollution through tailgating and how it can affect the watershed, but I also learned that people are willing to do their best to help out where they can. I learned valuable communication skills and more confidence when it comes to approaching groups and lobbying ideas. This exercise was definitely successful for me. I learned about presenting an issue to other people and helping them be the solution rather than the problem.

Climate Simulation

Nate Ware

When I played my role in the policy exercise, I felt that it would be difficult for all of the nations to come together to create a solution. Throughout the rounds we started out by trying to convince the other groups to do what we want, but as it evolved we began to make compromises and bargain to get what we want. My group did not change our ideas much, but we did change our peak year and reduction year to be sooner. We did this in order to prompt the US and China to raise their rate of reduction. I think the emissions can be reduced but it would be very difficult both to negotiate as well as just attempt in general. The major costs would be the creation of green technologies and barriers include the corrupt governments of the developing nations so the developed countries are less willing to donate. It would also take many years set up the programs to reduce the emissions. The proposals rely on countries stopping their emissions output which is much more difficult in reality than in theory. By offering incentives for greener living practices and making the citizens more aware of how soon the effects can be seen we can catalyze change in the US.

Nate Ware

In this picture, I see a piece of art work in the riparian buffer. What really struck me was all of the sediment around the art and the plant growth in the surrounding area as well as the lack of water in the immediate area. The picture made me think about the maintenance that is require for both art installations as the sculpture appears to be very rusted. It also made me think about how the lack of water in certain areas of a stream can affect the health of the riparian buffer. When I look at this picture I feel the need to understand how this area has changed over the years and what it looked like when the art was first installed. I feel like we need to make an effort to restore it. I think this picture is about how a watershed changes overtime whether it be naturally or through human actions.

Nate Ware

2. In high school I took biology freshman year and then AP Chemistry classes and AP physics. I preferred Chemistry courses because I liked working with chemical equations and understanding how and why things reacted the way the did with each other.

3. I would like to have a different understanding of biology than just memorization like I did in high school.

4. The river cleanup project interests me the most because I enjoy working outside and I like to do activities in the outdoors. I do not mind getting dirty which would be a useful skill during a river cleanup. I think that my fellow students would want to know just how much trash is being left in and around the rivers and I think it would appeal to them because most people do not want to see trash heaps around rivers as then they would be unusable.

5. Relative to civic engagement, I would learn how to raise awareness about littering around rivers and the damage it can cause to the ecosystem by helping with this service learning.

6. I would like to learn plants and soil conservation.