If you are one of our cognitive patients, you probably already know this—but there are certain genes that can greatly increase or decrease how easily our brains function in a healthy way (and stay that way!).

You’ve hopefully noticed articles on our website about ApoE4, and perhaps even visited the wonderful website named in its honor: ApoE4.info—a great, crowd-sourced forum for patients sharing experiences and tips.

I want to make a plug for evaluating your genetics if you have any concerns about brain health—a parent with cognitive problems, a sibling, or knowing that you yourself have ApoE4.
I’m going to use ApoE4 as the best example of why I recommend looking further.

The ApoE gene comes in three forms—E2, E3, and E4. Each of us has two copies, one from each parent, so you might be a 2/2, 2/3, 3/3, 3/4, 4/4, or even a 2/4.
What’s amazing about ApoE4 is that it interacts with over 1,600 other genes, for good or bad.

So, if I’m reviewing the genes for someone with one or two E4’s, I also look at three other genes that can be influential:

• ApoC1 – acts as a “volume switch” for E4, amplifying its particular needs, deeds, and misdeeds.

• TOMM40 – collaborates by interfering with key mitochondrial processes that can increase the risk of E4 being less helpful.

• KLOTHO – variants in this gene turn down the “volume” of ApoE4 and generally convey greater health and longevity.

• BCHE – best known for influencing anesthesia tolerance. If you’ve ever been slow to wake up from anesthesia, it might be due to a variant in this gene. It also plays a role in the brain’s ability to clear outdated beta-amyloid.

We all have some beta-amyloid in our brains—it acts like a bandage.
What we don’t want is too much beta-amyloid that clumps together and hangs around long after it’s needed.

If you know you have one or two copies of ApoE4, chat with one of us about the process for finding out how you fare in these four other genes, as well as hundreds of others that collaborate, augment, or block the risks of ApoE4.