Is Dementia/Alzheimer’s hereditary

[MissCeltic]

This absolutely terrifies me as my Dad we think has either Dementia or Alzheimer’s as he forgets things and repeats himself his mother died of Alzheimer’s and my grans brother and sister both had dementia.

I am terrified this all means I am going to end up with the same thing.

Quick google search from the Alzheimers society:

The majority of dementia is not inherited by children and grandchildren. In rarer types of dementia there may be a strong genetic link, but these are only a tiny proportion of overall cases of dementia.

The genes you inherit from your parents can contribute to your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, although the actual increase in risk is small. But in a few families, Alzheimer's disease is caused by the inheritance of a single gene and the risks of the condition being passed on are much higher.

Why don't you take a look at their website if you haven't already for more info.

Thanks for that

I just keep hearing conflicting things like 99 times out of a hundred it’s not passed on from family but then they also say if you have family with it then you are more likely to get it so that confuses me.

Check out @thebraindocs on Instagram - two highly qualified neurologists. They have books and interviews etc. They say that about 95% of people don’t have a raised hereditary risk and that many cases are lifestyle related (just like heart disease, cancer etc) and that you can reduce your risk by living healthily. They recommend a plant based diet, fibre, lots of walking, lots of social contact, etc.
For the 5% that are predisposed, genetics are not destiny - you can still reduce chances but your odds are slightly worse. Apparently whether genes are expressed or not has lot to do with environment and circumstance.
In short, don’t despair, get educated about it, and do as much as you can to stave it off.

Ok so you have RISK genes. So in your family there may be a strong risk gene which means you're more likely to get it than the general population. That in no way means you are expected to get it, it just increases your risk and you can do things to decrease your chances of getting it.

Familial dementia is a 50/50 risk passed from parent to child. It's often involved with early onset cases that wipes out families. I know this as mine is one of them. It accounts for something like 1% of cases and is very rare. You in all likeliness will be absolutely fine.

The other thing is that there have been some breakthrough treatments recently, raising the hope that it’s a disease which will be better treated in future, if not eradicated:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/06/start-of-new-era-for-alzheimers-treatment/

There's a good podcast on radio 4 about dementia. Each programme is only 15 mins long so easy to listen to.

Thank you for the replies I have been in such a state worrying about this.

I guess it’s also because I live on my own and don’t have a lot of close friends so I am worried what would happen when I am completely on my own in years to come.

You're not alone in your worries @MissCeltic My maternal grandmother had dementia, my paternal grandmother had Alzheimer's disease and my mum is showing signs of dementia (undiagnosed as of yet but v evident).

I worry myself and intend to keep my mind busy and myself socially active for as long as possible. Other than exercising I do not know anything else I can do.

I am heartened by the progression of drugs to slow the illness though.

I have heard a lot of people saying that the Mediterranean Diet is helpful so I think I will try that. I imagine most people are fearful of developing Dementia and Alzheimer’s. I had thought about genetic testing but I think that might make my anxiety worse and also I believe even if you have the gene you still have a good chance that you won’t ever develop it so it’s not really an answer I guess.

I understand this worry, as both my father and my father's sister developed dementia. I 'take after' that part of the family, and I worry constantly that I'm going to develop it :-(

My grandad and my aunt both developed dementia, as did my grandads mother.
I'm noticing my own mother repeating herself more and more too, I can't say for certain if it's just bad luck or faulty genes in our case.