Friends & Positive Attitude Trump Disease Gene

Certain genes provide predictors of our health, but how well can the same genes predict our well-being? When it comes to the gene known as ApoE, researchers have long known that one of its four forms (known as ApoE4) is associated with risk for Alzheimer’s, coronary disease, stroke and diabetes.

While any of those conditions may affect emotional and psychological health, limited research to date has looked at whether the gene itself is associated with diminished well-being. A new Mayo Clinic study investigated the effect of ApoE4 gene on people in their 90’s - “the oldest old,” the study calls them - to determine whether the genotype affects quality of life. Click here to read more in the news release.
The study is also published in Journal of American Medical Directors Association.