Alzheimers: Is Alzheimer's hereditary - Care Community

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Lucas1952 profile image
5 Replies

Is Alzheimer's hereditary

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Lucas1952 profile image
Lucas1952
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Apparently it is not supposed to be - but my husband's mother and all his brothers and sisters have had it.

5855 profile image
5855 in reply to

Hi Lucas it has run in the female line of my family , but that doesn't mean it's hereditary , Myself and my sister were tested and we have a 20%chance of getting it , but so do 15%of the population , so the odds aren't stacked against us , but lifestyle helps , we read , do brain puzzles , have a newspaper , do crosswords , stay active , and I will carry on working until I have to stop if I'm able which is 75 if I want , I think our parents were overworked , not such a good diet and a lot of women had nothing outside of home life , I go to cinema , out with friends ,

I was tested at The Churchill Hospital Oxford , arranged by our GP if you are interested , but the downside is , do you want to know and be for ever waiting for it to happen x

MAS_Nurse profile image
MAS_Nurse

Hello Lucas1952, Welcome to this supportive community! Folks here are only too willing to share from their experiences and come alongside with empathy.

In answer to your question there are different risk factors, some controllable lifestyle ones, and some like age and genetics that cannot. However the genetic influence isn't straightforward but subtle, you may find this information helpful from the Alzheimer's UK charity:

alzheimers.org.uk/info/2000...

Hope this helps.

Best wishes.

Hi Lucas1952,

It's not hereditary in the sense that your parents pass it on to you through genes, but, as lifestyle, health, nutrition and other factors come into play, it's quite possible that one of these factors could be responsible for causing an entire family to have a tendency to it through earlier environment etc.

Oldkat profile image
Oldkat

Well I did not believe it was inherited until Caryl developed it. Her father and his sister had it too.

So perhaps is the answer I’ve arrived at or sometimes ...

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