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rocketman1 Asked June 2011

Is there a test to see if I will get Alzheimer's, like my mother?

IzzyBee Jun 2012
I would like to know if I have the gene. My grandmother had Alz or some form of dementia at the end, and now my mother, at age 70 is in the mid-moderate stage 5 of Alz. Guess I will ask her Dr. to order the test for me. Wish me luck...

Natural Mar 2012
A test for the APOE e2 gene for Alz. lets you know if you are at risk?

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JessieBelle Jan 2012
What age was your mother when she was diagnosed with Alz? naheaton is right that a gene abnormality can be found in people with early-onset Alz. The Alzheimer's Project with Maria Shriver is a wonderful video series that was made for TV. I recommend it for anyone who has a loved one newly diagnosed with Alz. It has so much information and gives a lot of hope that this mind-robbing disease will be cured one day soon.The series talks about the test for early-onset Alz, and follows a family that has the defective gene. It is probably the same family that naheaton saw on Dr. Oz.

I watched the video series and not only learned a lot, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

jeannegibbs Jan 2012
All bodily functions are controlled by the brain, so, yes, when there are problems in the brain there can be problems with almost any other functions.

msad2000 Jan 2012
Do people with dementia lose their bodily functions?

NancyH Jun 2011
I watched Dr Oz one day when they had 5 siblings, as I remember on the show, who all but one had a gene that showed they will or do have Alz. Both their parents had it I think, and 4 out of the 5 got early onset alz. Only the one sister escaped. So yes there is a gene screening like the one that shows the proclivity for breast cancer out there.

54j Jun 2011
there is a blood test to see if you have the Alz gene. The doc that diagnosed my husband at Duke wanted our sons to have the test but they decided against it for now. Yes the only was to find out for sure is after death.

jeannegibbs Jun 2011
I don't think so. In fact, there isn't even a test to see if someone has Alzheimer's, except post-mortem brain study. About half of the people diagnosed with Alzheimer's whose brains are studied after they die turn out not to have had Alzheimer's but some other kind of dementia.

Enormous research efforts are going on here and around the world to better diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent dementia of all kinds. Let's hope there will be breakthroughs soon. But right now, I don't think there are any tests to predict your liklihood of developing dementia.

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