There are 11 children from these parents. I am very curious in what the future could bring for each of us - ie: who will get AD and who will be "safe"??

Hi Deborah

Thanks for your question. Lesson 3 goes into some more detail about some of the future tests that will be used to help diagnose AD, but wanted to go into some more detail here as well.

One of the most common questions that we get asked about Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is “If I have a family history, am I more likely to develop Alzheimer’s?” With 2 parents with AD, this is a very common question. Before we answer this, let us clarify a few things. In general, Alzheimer’s is a very common condition regardless of whether a person has a family member with the disease. In fact, everyone’s risk of developing AD increases over time because the number-one risk factor is advancing age. That is why we feel that everyone should start making changes in our lives to reduce this risk. Most especially, seeing a physician for an evaluation, as well as specific lifestyle and dietary changes, and leanring more about AD prevention (like on AlzU.org).

That being said, there are specific genes that can be passed on from parents to children that may increase the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The good news is that only a smal portion of AD cases are caused by the types of genes that can lead to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. These genes may contribute to the development of AD in patients younger than age sixty, although many younger-onset patients do not end up having these genes. There is another set of genes that are associated with older-age onset of AD, or late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The most well studied of these genes is called apolipoprotein epsilon (or commonly referred to as APOE). If a person has one or more of specific types of the APOE gene, the risk of developing AD may increase, but there are specific lifestyle changes that people can make to help win the "tug-of-war" with their genes. Also, knowing whether a person has one or more copies of a specific APOE gene does not necessarily help a physician predict if or when a patient will develop AD. We will cover this topic in more detail in future lessons on AlzU.org.

We still have a long way to go before using genetic testing to help with the pre-symptomatic diagnosis of AD. For these reasons, most doctors do not recommend genetic testing on family members of Alzheimer’s patients. Instead, based on the latest scientific research, doctors are now starting to suggest several options for potential risk reduction to family members at risk. We encourage people to talk to their doctors about this and seek the care of a qualified medical professional. These topics will be covered in great detail in future lessons (see the Lesson Menu for upcoming topics).

Hope this helps!

- The AlzU.org Team

Thanks for answering the question that we all have on our minds, "Will I get ALZ like my parent?"