APOE gene mutation
The APOE genes are important genes for your brain. APOE genes are associated with poor catabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, this means that the gene can cause serious health problems that can lead to even more serious health problems and even common chronic diseases.
Your body and brain need to use your triglyceride-rich lipoproteins to make repairs and rebuild your brain, when this slows down as a result of a bad APOE gene the main problems are:
- Increased total cholesterol
- Decreased HDL levels
- Imbalances in EFA (essential fatty acids)
- Increased risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease
- Increased risk for dementia
- Increased risk for memory loss
- Increased risk for mental health problems
- Increased risk for psychosis associated with mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder)
The APOE genes, especially, the gene mutations of APOE 2 & 4 are well known for the development of Alzheimer’s disease, here is an example of the APOE, as you can see those in red are homozygous (double bad copies of the gene mutations):
Alzheimer’s disease & APOE genes
Alzheimer’s disease is a big problem and it’s getting bigger as we have a much bigger aging population. If you or somebody you know has bad APOE genes, that are active, there is a good chance of having at least a decline in mental cognitive health.
APOE 2 & APOE 4 are known Alzheimer’s genes by medical science and the strategy for them is to cover up symptoms with drugs and to slow down the progression of the disease.
What is your homocysteine score? Elevated homocysteine is often seen in APOE and Alzheimer’s disease. Correcting your homocysteine (in methylation) can go a long way in helping with bad APOE genes.
Learn more about fixing your homocysteine here.
Alzheimer’s disease also often has elevated A1C which is a measure of your blood sugar levels and helps to determine pre-diabetes. Therefore, fixing blood sugar imbalances will also help with Alzheimer’s disease.
Dementia and APOE genes
Another “brain” problem associated with bad APOE genes is dementia. Dementia is also a decline in cognitive brain function associated with possible APOE mutations however usually there are other problems in terms of detoxification such as heavy metals that interfere with brain function, either way if you have active APOE gene mutations you can’t use your fats to rebuild your brain and so dementia can result.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease
Cognitive:
- Mental decline
- Increased memory loss and or confusion
- Difficulty thinking and understanding
- Delusion
- Disorientation
- Forgetfulness
- Making things up
- Mental confusion
- Difficulty concentrating
- Inability to create new memories
- Inability to do simple maths
- Inability to recognize common things
- Inability to learn new things
- Difficulty with language and problems with reading, writing and working with numbers
- Difficulty organizing thoughts and thinking logically, shortened attention span, Problems coping with new situations
Behavioural:
- Aggression
- Agitation
- Difficulty with self-care
- Irritability
- Meaningless repetition of own words
- Personality changes
- Restlessness
- Lack of restraint, or wandering and getting lost
Mood:
- Anger
- Apathy
- General discontent
- Loneliness, or mood swings, depression, anxiety
Psychological:
- Depression
- Hallucination
- Paranoia
- Psychosis
Symptoms of Dementia
- Experiencing memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion
- Difficulty speaking, understanding and expressing thoughts, or reading and writing
- Disorientation
- Wandering and getting lost in a familiar neighborhood
- Trouble handling money responsibly and paying bills
- Repeating questions
- And many of the symptoms listed in Alzheimer’s disease
- Get help from a practitioner who understands APOE’s here
