Exam that indicated risk of Alzheimer’s to ‘Thor’ actor generates more anxiety than benefits

Chris Hemsworth, 39, star of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Avengers” film franchise, has decided to take a break from his career after receiving the results of a genetic test that showed him a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

The result, obtained during the production of the Disney+ documentary series “Limitless”, indicates that the actor has a rare condition, with two apolipoprotein E genes of the APOE4 subtype (one allele received from the father and the other from the mother).

However, the result, given by a simple blood or saliva test, is not a verdict, just an indicator of increased risk of having the disease.

Experts heard by Sheet claim that this type of test generates more anxiety than benefits, since the best treatment for degenerative diseases of memory and cognition is still building a healthier lifestyle.

“This exam is not for early diagnosis, it is for determining risk, and risk is chance. It has to improve a lot so that it can have a greater probability, to be clinically relevant”, says Fábio Porto, neurologist and scientific director of the Brazilian Alzheimer’s Association (Abraz) from São Paulo.

APOE4, says Porto, is not a deterministic gene, like the so-called “Mendelian genes”, those that mark characteristics such as eye color. The clinical recommendation, therefore, is to only take the exam if there are symptoms of the disease or after a rigorous medical consultation of genetic counseling, so that the person actually understands the concepts of what he will find.

The great expectation of science today is in epigenetics, which explores how much life habits and environmental exposures modify, nullify or improve the expression of non-deterministic genes. “Half of people who have the risk gene will not have the disease, and half of those who have Alzheimer’s do not have the risk gene”, emphasizes the doctor.

Alzheimer’s begins decades before the first symptoms when a protein called amyloid starts forming plaques in the brain. Aging and environmental factors work together with genetics to speed up this accumulation. Some studies have tested drugs capable of removing this protein before Alzheimer’s manifests itself, but a treatment in the asymptomatic phase should still take years of research.

“The day these drugs are approved, it may be more important to know your risk [com o teste genético]to take the normal protein while you are still asymptomatic, but it is something that is not yet available”, says Porto.

Fabiano Moulin de Moraes, a physician in the department of neurology at Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo), is a specialist in neurology of cognition and behavior and agrees with his colleague.

“In the office, I recommend that, instead of spending on the test, use the money for what we know prevents and can treat the disease in the early and moderate stages, which is physical, cognitive, social activity, vascular health care, hypertension, diabetes, sleep care, both insomnia and apnea”, says Moraes.

APOE has three variants, type 2 being protective, type 3 common and type 4 more related to the presence of Alzheimer’s. Moraes says that knowing the APOE profile today, in practice, does not add anything in terms of treatment or prevention.

Having the double APOE4 allele (less than 3% of the population) increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by up to 16 times and, in the case of developing the disease, it can evolve faster and have less response to existing medications, making the picture more severe . Still, healthy living can significantly influence that future, and—Hemsworth knows it.

In the series “Limitless”, the actor tests the limits of the body to have more health and longevity. The decision to take a break from work was taken so he could focus on habits that could reduce the expression of the genes he carries — what he called in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine “preventive steps”, whose “benefits affect the rest of all your life”.

The actor told the publication that the exam confirmed his biggest fear, since his grandfather had the disease, and said that the discovery stirred something inside him. As a result, he wants to spend more time with his family — actress Elsa Pataky, with whom he is married, and their three children.

It is worth remembering that aging is in fact the main cause of the disease in the majority of the population and that avoiding smoking, taking care of cardiovascular factors, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and learning new things, such as a second language, are what science actually recommends to stop. reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.