Navigating ApoE4, Statin & Other Brain Health Concerns Without the Anxiety

TOPIC

Our meetup will explore making less fear-driven—and more informed—brain health decisions. I will begin with information related to ApoE4 and statins that can reduce anxiety and help you make smarter decisions. Often, your doctor may not have time for an in-depth exploration of these topics.

After the initial topics (see outline below), attendees can share related experiences navigating other similar health issues. Hope you will join us for a productive group discussion. A little education can “stop allowing [ourselves] to be made afraid by those who are selling treatments.” —Alan Cassels.

1st Example: Should I take a statin for prevention if I have an elevated LDL-C but am otherwise healthy?
• Start by using an online risk assessment tool to estimate 10-year risk of a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular event. These Pooled Cohort Equations are used by professionals to guide statin therapy recommendations for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, central to the 2018 American College of Cardiology guidelines. Quickly calculate your 10-year risk for yourself and contextualize it here: See that the “guidelines do not recommend statin therapy for patients with 10-year risk <5%”.
• Armed with a few more of your own biomarker results, you can utilize the newer PREVENT risk assessment tool of the American Heart Association to calculate your 10-year risks of cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and heart failure. Different studies suggest that risk of greater than 4%, 5%, or 7.5% may indicate statin therapy based on the PREVENT model. You can also estimate your absolute cardiovascular disease risk reduction from taking statins over 10 years.

• For a more personalized and rational decision about the benefits and risks of taking a statin, you also have the option of talking with your doctor about getting a Coronary Artery Calcium score and advanced lipid testing.

2nd Example: After finding out that I have one copy of ApoE4 and searching online, I’m now receiving tons of marketing around Alzheimer's that’s confusing and makes me feel anxious.
Research consistently shows that the Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk from the ApoE4 genetic variant is significantly lower or absent in traditional, non-industrialized populations compared to their genetically similar counterparts in modern settings. This highlights how diet, lifestyle, and other environmental factors can mitigate ApoE4's effects.
• Rural Yoruba Nigerians (traditional subsistence living) vs. African-Americans: ApoE4 elevates AD and cognitive decline risk about twice as much in African-Americans than in Yoruba Nigerians. See
• Southern Italians (traditional Mediterranean lifestyle) vs. Italian-Americans: While ApoE4 reduces the chance of living to a very old age in Italian-Americans, it does NOT impede extreme longevity in Southern Italians living traditional ways. See
• Similar patterns of little association between ApoE4 and Alzheimer’s risk have been observed in the Tsimane indigenous forager-horticulturalists who live a subsistence lifestyle in Bolivia and in Native American Indian elders.

• A December 30, 2025 preprint (currently under peer review) shows how the Bredesen Protocol in a randomized, controlled clinical trial markedly improved memory, executive function, brain processing speed, and overall cognition along with blood pressure, bodyweight, insulin sensitivity, hemoglobin A1c, lipid profiles (“cholesterol”), and methylation. The overall effect of the Bredesen Protocol “was greater than any other treatment for cognitive decline—and 600% better (i.e., 7 times) the effect of Leqembi, the Alzheimer’s drug”. https://www.preprints.org/frontend/manuscript/8118568f183e2ba91ec2a1d3b3d08fb9/download_pub

• Equipped with this information, you may perceive ApoE4 as a risk multiplier (for poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, etc.) rather than an unavoidable, predestined genetic risk factor. The recent preprint and others (such as https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11157928/) may convince you that engaging in brain healthy living (such as the diet and lifestyle of the Bredesen Protocol) can markedly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in your future.

**Note that our discussion will be for educational purposes only and isn't intended as medical advice.

WHO

All attendees should first review our San Diego Dementia Prevention Support Group guidelines by applying to JOIN our private Facebook group "The Brain Health Bunch" at https://www.facebook.com/groups/brainhealthsupport

WHAT TO BRING

A hat, sunscreen, jacket, and/or water may be useful depending on the weather. Consider bringing a portable chair for ease of repositioning under changing shady or sunny conditions.

LOCATION

We'll meet at the NORTHEAST end of San Dieguito COUNTY Park, referred to as the "lower park", at 15998 El Camino Real, Del Mar, CA 92104. See the map above and double check the that you are NOT headed to a different park called "San Dieguito River Park". Find us near the three picnic tables and large pepper tree southeast of the beautiful BUTTERFLY GARDEN entrance. Or we may try to sit under the tree inside the Butterfly Garden. Message me (Jen) if you cannot spot our group when you get to the location.

DIRECTIONS

From the 5 freeway, take the Lomas Santa Fe Dr exit and turn right to head westward on Lomas Santa Fe Dr for about one mile. Turn left onto Highland Drive. Take Highland Dr northeast until it crosses El Camino Real. Turn RIGHT on El Camino Real and look for parking on the righthand side.

PARKING

If you park in the free spaces outside the northeast park entrance, you'll have a two-minute walk between two ponds toward the Butterfly Garden (pictured). Or pay $5 to drive through the entrance, then take the first right to park in one of the 20 spaces surrounding the Butterfly Garden.

AMENITIES

Nearby bathrooms, drinking fountains, and handicap parking.

CHECK THIS EVENT PAGE FOR UPDATES

Please check this event page BEFORE leaving in case any changes have been made in venue/timing. If the forecast the day before the event shows likelihood of very hot or rainy weather, people who have RSVP'd "yes" may receive an invitation to a videoconference instead.

IMPORTANT:

By attending, you agree to PARTICIPATE YOUR OWN RISK and to make your own decisions about whether to engage in any of the diet, movement, lifestyle, or other activities discussed. All participation in this support group is entirely at your own risk and not a replacement for seeing a licensed healthcare provider

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