the benefits of knowing
In 2013, I shipped a plastic tube filled with my DNA off to 23andMe in hopes of finding a birth relative. Instead of a connection, I discovered that I carry one copy of the ε4 variant in my APOE gene, slightly increasing my odds of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. Reading further into the scientific research helped alleviate any concerns I had about possibly losing my mind later in life because I led a healthy lifestyle—keeping your brain and body active along with eating a healthy diet are known to reduce risk, and I was doing all those things. When I connected with my birth mother and birth father almost five years later, Alzheimer’s wasn’t on my mind. I was only happy that I found them, that they were both alive and that they wanted to be a part of my life. But a few years into our reunion, both would be formally diagnosed with the disease in their 60s, and I have slowly watched them become different people. My birth mother, the one who blessed me with ε4, has progressed the quickest, recently crossing over into the last stage known as very severe cognitive decline. My birth father is not far behind, and I feel heartbroken, for me and for them.
My adoption never afforded me any insight into my genes. I didn’t know that Alzheimer’s ran rampant in my bloodline until I was in my late forties. My maternal grandmother, along with her sister and their mother, already died from disease, and both my birth parents, otherwise healthy, will not live to enjoy their retirement. Having close family members with Alzheimer’s increased my odds of developing the disease—the weight of these discoveries felt enormous. Will my healthy lifestyle be outmaneuvered by the genes I carry? Do I have fifteen years left before I forget who I am?
A year ago, I started a deep dive into how to prevent an early rendezvous with cognitive decline. If given a choice, I wanted to live a long life, but only if that life included an intact brain. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, and holding out for a miracle pill to be developed in my lifetime felt risky. A friend recognized my concerns and sent me the book How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger (https://nutritionfacts.org). I became vegetarian during the Covid-19 pandemic, primarily to help keep my weight in check during isolation. By then, I knew my birth parents were declining, and I started researching more about anti-inflammatory diets that help the brain. Never being a big meat eater, the switch to a veggie life came easy. However I have since learned more about the impacts of dairy on brain health, and I was still consuming it in large daily doses. Cheese is my bacon. A groundbreaking study published this June confirms what Dr. Greger and other health professionals have already suspected—that eating a whole-food, plant-based diet as part of a healthy lifestyle can prevent and even reverse Alzheimer’s Disease (https://pmri.org/research/alzheimers). This study bolsters what Dr. Greger refers to as the Nigerian Paradox. Nigerians as a population have the highest rates of APOE4 (like the gene I carry) but some of the lowest incidents of Alzheimer’s Disease. Medical experts believe this is due to a diet that keeps cholesterol levels in check. Lifestyle CAN trump genes? Mind blown (or not)!
I am six months into my whole food, plant-based vegan adventure, and I am not looking back. Having insight into my genetic makeup may have been the nudge I needed to make changes in my life, changes that will undoubtedly improve my brain health. When I ended my book Storked! with the statement, “The knowing has set me free,” I can now add, “and quite possibly extended my life.”
