What does the ApoE gene do? It makes the protein that’s the principal cholesterol carrier in the brain.100 The E4 variant may lead to an abnormal accumulation of cholesterol within brain cells, which could trigger Alzheimer’s pathology.101 This mechanism may explain the so-called Nigerian paradox. The highest frequency of the ApoE4 variant occurs in Nigerians,102 who surprisingly also have some of the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s.103 Wait a second. The population with the highest rate of the “Alzheimer’s gene” has one of the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s disease? This contradiction may be
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