Risk for Alzheimer’s disease

Image from BBC News

U.S. News.com had an article on Monday about the discovery of a gene variant on the X chromosome that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. This means that women may have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s but scientists aren’t sure how big that risk is. Sounds scary to me especially because my grandma has Alzheimer’s.

We recently moved my grandma into a nursing home. Living by herself wasn’t exactly the most practical living situation anymore. She couldn’t do simple tasks like use the stove anymore, and she was constantly paranoid.

The other day she was telling my family a story about one of her nights in the facility. She said that she woke up at 2 am, left her room and started following this hallway, went down 3 flights of stairs and eventually through a tunnel. She had no idea where she was going but kept following a bright light she saw at the end of the tunnel.

“This story is starting to sound like Alice and Wonderland,” said my dad. Once she reached the end of the tunnel, she said that all of these “mentally deranged people” were walking around.

“Those are called maintenance guys,” my dad said, trying to lighten what could be a seriously scary conversation. The nurses have had to call my mom on several occasions because of this type of behavior. Of course, my grandma ended her night adventure by “following the yellow brick road” all the way back to her room.

My grandma sees things differently these days.

I always thought Alzheimer’s was a disease I would never experience. It was something I saw in movies but not in my own family. Some people in my family are having a very difficult time coping with it, and others seem to handle it okay…notice my dad’s funny remarks.

I have to admit, the gene variant on the X chromosome scares me a little bit. But there are so many new studies being done with limited implications that it’s really hard to know which ones to live by and what to take with a grain of salt.

Image from Bio Job Blog

On Monday, new research was released from a collaborative study in Stockholm and Helsinki showing a negative relationship between coffee consumption and the risk for developing Alzheimer’s.

The press release from Karolinska Institutet says, “Coffee drinkers at midlife had lower risk for dementia and AD later in life compared to those drinking no or only little coffee. The lowest risk (65% decreased) was found among moderate coffee drinkers (drinking 3-5 cups of coffee/day).”

So…drink up! Maybe my Starbucks habit will pay off after all.