Recent Work on APOE in Alzheimer ' s Disease

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a well studied gene, given that variants are associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. That said, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol levels are just as important as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease when compared against all but the worst APOE variant, APOE4. Looking beyond Alzheimer's, in most cases lifestyle choices and their consequences on the operation of metabolism, particularly becoming overweight, have larger effects on risk of age-related disease than genetic variants. The common wisdom of a 75%/25% split between environment and genetics respectively in the matter of age-related disease and mortality may be overestimating the contribution of genetics, per more recent data. The point of investigating the activities of specific protein variants in which risk or scope of age-related is shifted is this: that the work may lead towards points of effective intervention. Not the gene or protein itself, usually, but something in the mechanisms with which it interacts. The late stages of all age-related conditions are enormously complex, and having the example of differences that affect the progression of the condition can help to pin down which of the many, many possible metabolic processes are most important. That is somewhat in evidence in the research materials here, but of course says nothing about how to effectively target those important mechanisms. Rare Luck: Two Copies of ApoE2 Shield Agai...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs