For years, I thought “I’m good”: my mother is 99, grandmother lived to 103. (mother has AD but her behaviors were largely responsible . . .) I paid little attention to my father and his side of the family, thinking, crazily, I don’t have much in common with them, I’ m not like them. (Father died at 69 of stroke and his sister died young of heart attack). Well, WRONG! I did the genetics simply to find out if I am APOE4. I’m not. But, I’m my father’s daughter after all.
I discovered risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke, colon cancer. I should not have been so surprised me but, given my denial of paternal history, it did come as a shock. But once I got my head around it, I showed the reports to my doctor, got referred to a cardiologist, got imaging, testing and meds that I would not have gotten simply on the basis of my blood work. And, encouraged my son to look at his, and he also learned things and started paying attention . . .
Wished I had done it earlier: might have prevented even the mild level of calcification that I have, and did not expect, given my apparent health and behavior.
Have you looked at your genetics? What have you learned?
Since we now know that genetics control over 50% of your longevity and health, shouldn’t we all know where we stand?
Given your excellent family genetics, coupled with modern medical advancements and the fact that you’re starting interventions so early—and most importantly, because you’re a woman—I think you have a real shot at breaking 122 and becoming the longest-lived person in history. My grandmother lived to be nearly a hundred, but unfortunately, I’m a man
I’m so glad you tested so you now know to be proactive about your heart health.
If it makes you feel a little less regretful, just know I’ve been seeing ‘top’ cardiologists (UCSF etc) for 20 years, and even with my very well established risk, they were all fine with my lipids being significantly higher than they are now. Not one doctor has advised me to be as aggressive as I am. Many people here are equally aggressive because they know better.
I have always been aware of the diseases I was most likely susceptible to based on my parents and grandparents.
We don’t actually have AD in my family, but we are chock full of other neurodegenerative diseases. I’ve tested to confirm I have one copy of apoe4. The reason I found this valuable is now that it’s been confirmed, it gets me to take actions I most likely would not have considered otherwise, for example, I’m going to start a Maraviroc experiment, and if all goes well, I’ll stay on that to hopefully help prevent decline. I did the same thing with starting glp1s, ldn, etc… it encourages me to be very proactive and taking extra risk vs just living a healthy lifestyle.
Last year I took the Virbrant Cardiax test so I could get insightful actionable information. It turns out it was nothing more than a colossal waste of money. It said… wait for it… I’m susceptible to getting heart disease and to eat a good diet…
I’ve been curious about testing for other things, but if I’m already proactive about my health, I’m not sure what I’d do with the information?
Thanks for the information that you shared. Will add: another thing I learned (it was at the top of the list meaning biggest risk)is that I have a “moderate” colon cancer risk --heterozygous for the bad allele on the APC gene – fairly common among Ashkenazi Jews – and --my grandfather died of what they called “stomach cancer.” Was it colon cancer? Anyway, I had not been thinking about this at all. But the upshot is: now I am scheduled to get a colonoscopy every three years. Also learned that I have a tendency for obesity. What??? My BMI is 19! But what it is pointing to is something about the way I process nutrients that makes me prone to gaining weight. So my sense that I have to stay below about 1200-1000 calories just to avoid gaining weight has a basis in my genetics.
And just for grins – will add – my husband also did his profile and the biggest risk, at the top of the stack, is “male pattern baldness.” Well, that was worth the price of admission! Just to know he doesn’t have any looming serious issues.
Good point about being extra proactive on colon screenings.
Regarding your obesity gene… on that note, the vibrant test gave me tips on how to handle my high blood pressure based on my gene…but, my bp has always been great, so I take all this stuff with a grain of salt (salt… blood pressure…. get it)
Shortly after birth whole genome sequencing revealed our baby is APOE4/4. No major genetic concerns otherwise and all development milestones are being hit/exceeded so far.
As parents we will model healthy diet/exercise, monitor bloodwork early/regularly and encourage sports and activities that will minimize CTE risk. We will also prioritize having enough money to pay for gene editing and other emerging treatments if/when they become safe and available.
