Why You Might Be At Risk For Alzheimer's

In recent studies, it has been discovered that if your father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, it's possible that he can pass it down to you. This is due to the greater spread of tau proteins in their brains, when they develop Alzheimer's. Up to now, it's always been believed, that the risk of Alzheimer's being passed down, was based on the mothers, we learn now, that this isn't the case. Women, however are still more at risk than men are of developing Alzheimer's, because they tend to have a heavier build-up of tau in their brains, making them more susceptible. According to HealthDay, it's also likely that more women develop Alzheimer's than men because, on average, they tend to live longer.

When reading this article, I found it interesting that Fathers are able to pass Alzheimer's disease down, because, I was only aware that mothers could pass it down. Even on TV shows, we only ever see mothers developing the disease. I feel like, now knowing it's possible for our fathers to pass the disease down, it shines a new light on this devastating disease. 

Your Genetic Risk of Mental Health Disorders Can Determine Where You Live

There are different factors that determine a place where someone lives. Some of those factors include price, location, weather conditions, and even the genetic risk of mental health disorders. A study conducted by a research team from King’s College London were able to identify that there are genes that cause people to choose their living choice based off them. They suggested that there is a correlation between a person’s genes and their environment. The experiment was based on a polygenic risk score (PRS) conducted on about 300,000 UK citizens ages ranging from 37 to 73. The PRS allowed the team to examine the gene liability of every individual involved. From all those studied, there was a higher risk of bipolar disorder, anorexia, and autism and a lower risk for ADHD in people who moved from rural to urban locations. Those risk in being diagnosed with schizophrenia and ADHD are likely to live in cities. They were able to concluded that depending on one’s likelihood to develop a mental disorder can determine the place they live. 

https://medicalxpress.com/pdf554541231.pdf

https://www.genome.gov/Health/Genomics-and-Medicine/Polygenic-risk-scores

 

Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Could Possible Reduce Genetic Risk of Cancer

    

    Dr. Guangfu Jin at Nanjing Medical University performed genetic research that determined that healthy lifestyle factors, including low body mass index, abstinence from smoking and drinking, and regular exercise correlated with a decrease in cancer, even in those with high genetic risk. Researchers are able to determine personalized estimates of an individual’s risk of developing cancer, which are known as polygenic risk scores (PRS), based on each unique combination of changes that influence cancer risk in areas of DNA. Jin and his colleagues calculated individual PRS for 16 cancers in men and 18 in women, and using statistical methods combined these scores into a single measure of cancer risk. 

    The results of this study show that patients with an unhealthy lifestyle and the highest quintile of genetic risk were 2.99 times more likely in men and 2.38 times more likely in women to develop cancer as opposed to those with a healthy lifestyle and the lowest quintile of genetic risk. Individuals at a high genetic risk of overall cancer can be identified by PRS, and this risk can be attenuated by adopting a favorable lifestyle. Jin stated that “these findings indicate that everyone should have a healthy lifestyle to decrease overall cancer risk”, which is particularly important to those with high genetic risk of cancer. Jin hopes that the CPRS were useful in improving one’s self-awareness of their inherited susceptibility to cancer and motivating them to maintain a favorable and healthy lifestyle.

Link to Study: https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2021/07/29/0008-5472.CAN-21-0836

Link to Article: https://scitechdaily.com/healthy-lifestyle-may-help-mitigate-high-genetic-risk-of-cancer/

Link Between Genes and PTSD

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170425102817.htm

Post traumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that impacts many around the world. Genetic link has been found between PTSD and schizophrenia, and since schizophrenia is more common in women, this suggests that women are also at greater risk for PTSD. A recent study looked into the genetics of those that have PTSD and those that have lived through traumatic events and not developed the mental illness. They believed that genetic variation was the reason why a person would be resilient to PTSD or be at risk for it. The study focused on about 20000 people from 11 different ethnic backgrounds. The found that 29% of the risk of getting PTSD is contributed to genes. This puts PTSD as one of the most genetically influenced mental illness. Researchers hope by being able to identify a patient's risk for getting PTSD that they can take preventative measures to make sure that they do not experience PTSD. I think that this is going to be very helpful to a lot of people if they are able to determine a person's risk for developing this mental illness. By implementing preventative measures for a person at risk, hopefully the amount of people that live with post-traumatic stress disorder will decrease.

Genetic Risk of Heart Disease Reduced by Living a Healthy Lifestyle

     Four different studies were recently analyzed which contained around 55,000 participants about reducing the risk of heart disease by living a healthy lifestyle even when a person has a high genetic risk. The research was done by Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, the director of the Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and his colleagues. It was the first attempt to use large data to analyze the effects of genes and lifestyle in the risk for heart disease.

     It was found that genes can double a person's risk for heart disease, but living a healthy lifestyle can cut that risk in half. It was also found that living an unhealthy lifestyle gets rid of about half the benefits of good genetics. Dr. Michael Lauer, a cardiologist who is the deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, said the study was impressive because the studies were large and the results were consistent and convincing even with varied populations. The results of the studies should appeal to those who emphasize genetics and to those who emphasize healthy lifestyles.

     The research started about a year and a half ago. A genetic score was developed based on 50 genes that are related to heart disease. A lifestyle score was also developed based on whether someone smoked, exercised at least once a week, whether they followed a healthy diet, and whether they were obese. An optimum lifestyle score was a person who had three or all four of the elements. The study showed very strong results because of the large sample size and showed that even though each of the 50 genes contributed a small amount, all of them together had a large significance.