
Double Your Love, Double Your Impact
Double Your Love, Double Your Impact
Help provide 2x the care and support for millions affected by Alzheimer’s and advance research to bring us closer to a cure during our Double the Love Match Challenge
Donate NowWhat your genes can and can’t tell you about Alzheimer’s risk

While genetic testing can shed light on important risk factors for certain diseases, researchers still do not completely understand the role genetics play in Alzheimer’s risk. Currently, the gene with the greatest known impact on Alzheimer’s risk is APOE-e4, but this may differ based on your ancestry.
Genetic tests, including those purchased over the counter, are able to tell if a person has this “Alzheimer’s risk gene,” but not if they’ll conclusively develop Alzheimer’s.
Your genes and Alzheimer's

It’s important to note that APOE-e4 has only been studied in certain populations. Much of what we know about Alzheimer’s and genetic risk comes from research with non-Hispanic White participants, so it is unclear how genetics may drive risk in other groups.
Is Alzheimer's genetic?
Having a parent, sibling or sister living with Alzheimer's increases your risk but doesn't necessarily mean you will develop the disease.
A small percentage of Alzheimer’s cases are caused by gene mutations that guarantee someone will develop the disease. However, these mutations for Alzheimer’s are rare, occurring in less than 1% of all cases. At-home genetic tests do not detect all of the gene mutations that cause Alzheimer’s, or paint a full picture of a person’s risk for the disease.
Beyond genetic risk
There are other risk factors for Alzheimer’s that genetic tests can’t take into account. Right now researchers don’t know exactly what causes the disease, but believe it involves multiple factors, including genetics, environment, lifestyle, coexisting medical conditions and age — the greatest known risk factor.
“You’ll get a lot of information, probably more accurate information, about your broad health risk by looking at your family history than you will by doing a genetic test,” Goate says. “Genetic tests are simply not that accurate [at predicting risk] for most diseases that are caused by many different genetic and environmental factors.”
What you can do
While age, family history and heredity are all risk factors we can’t change, evidence continues to build that healthy lifestyle habits — such as being physically active, eating a healthy diet, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol consumption and engaging in cognitively stimulating activities — are powerful tools to reduce risk and possibly prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementias. “These are things that we should all be doing, regardless of our genotype,” Goate says. “There are things we can control.”Recent research even suggests that combining multiple healthy lifestyle choices may counteract genetic risk. In one study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®), participants with a high genetic risk who followed a “favorable” lifestyle had a 32% lower risk of dementia compared with those who had an “unfavorable” lifestyle.
Investigation of the impact lifestyle can have on cognitive decline is currently ongoing through the U.S. POINTER study. This two-year clinical trial looks at how lifestyle interventions like exercise and nutrition impact the brains of older adults who have an increased risk of cognitive decline.
A personal decision
Ultimately, getting a genetic test is a very personal decision. Knowing you have an increased genetic risk could impact you or your loved ones emotionally, or even your ability to qualify for disability, long-term care or life insurance in the future.Before making the decision to undergo a genetic test, talk to a physician or genetic counselor to help you think through some of these considerations.
To learn more about genetic counseling, visit nsgc.org.
Read More ALZ Magazine Articles



ALZ Magazine
Prevention on the Horizon?
What Can We Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s? This Question Has Been Asked by Concerned Individuals, Researchers for Years
January 14, 2019

The first survivor of Alzheimer's is out there, but we won't get there without you.
Donate Now
Learn how Alzheimer’s disease affects the brain.
Take the Brain Tour