Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, 39, star of Thor, revealed to Elle magazine that he has a predisposition to develop Alzheimer’s in the future – a degenerative disease that causes deterioration of the cognitive and neurological systems.
Hemsworth said he discovered he has a chance of having the disease after a battery of genetic tests during Limitless, his new documentary series for National Geographic. In the program, he said that the discovery was: “my greatest fear”.
The actor received an analysis of his DNA which found that he has two copies of the APOE4 gene – from his father and mother – which studies associate with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s. One in four people carry a single copy of the gene, but only 2 to 3 percent of the population have both, according to a 2021 study by the National Institutes of Health.
He told the publication that the diagnosis is a matter of concern for the future and that the double occurrence of the gene puts him in a higher category of developing the degenerative disease. “My concern was that I just didn’t want to manipulate it and over-dramatize it, and turn it into some sort of hokey empathy, or whatever, for entertainment,” Hemsworth said. “It’s not like I got my resignation.”
The actor also said that he saw the discovery of the genetic predisposition to the disease as a blessing to be able to start taking measures to manage the risk, maintain physical and mental health and who knows how to manage to avoid the development of Alzheimer’s for as long as possible. He even joked with the reporter: “[Sempre que esqueço algo] is my excuse now.”
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