What is APOE Genotype?

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Genetic Risk for Alzheimer's: APOE Genotype

Genetic factors are small variations in genetic code called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs (pronounced “snips”). These small changes may be responsible for a significant increase in Alzheimer’s disease risk. Environmental factors that increase the disease risk are depression, certain sedating medications, lack of sleep or insufficient vitamin or hormone levels in your body.

SNPs in the gene called APOE (or apolipoprotein E) are strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Depending on their combination the disease risk could be low, moderate, high or very high. For example, a combination known as e3/e3 occurs in approximately 66% of people and carries a moderate disease risk. Combinations that include e4 such as e3/e4 and e4/e4 increase Alzheimer’s risk by approximately 3 to 35 times compared to e3/e3. The e2/e2 carriers are at a lower risk than most people but this combination occurs only rarely. Overall, there are are 6 possible combinations of APOE gene and each carry a different level of genetic risk for Alzheimer’s dementia.

Is it Possible to Prevent or Delay Alzheimer's?

Studies show that losing excess weight, stopping smoking and exercising regularly will significantly reduce Alzheimer’s disease risk. Surprisingly, individuals who are e4 allele carriers and are at an increased risk for Alzheimer’s, tend to benefit more from these simple health steps. This fact alone is a good reason to learn about your genetic makeup.

Remarkably, e4 carriers could experience mild memory loss even before they are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. However, if your genetic risk is low and you have memory problems, these problems could be caused by depression, certain sedating medications or lack of sleep, insufficient vitamin or hormone levels in your body. These are treatable conditions and should be discussed with your doctor without delay.

Planning for the Future

Another good reason for knowing your genetic makeup and Alzheimer’s genetic risk is additional time and opportunity that this information provides for making important decisions about your property, your family and your future care.

There are many genetic tests available today that provide actionable information. However, interpretation of genetic tests requires specialized knowledge and may not be available everywhere. MoodNote Genomics specializes in genetic testing and will develop an individual treatment plan for you based on your genotype. If you have medical or emotional problems that evaded treatments, unusual reactions to medications, or had genetic testing done and would like to know what the results mean, do not delay – contact us today!