[pb]The Inheritance: A family on the front lines against Alzheimers, 3.5 stars

[NancyJ]

The Inheritance: A Family on the Front Lines of the Battle Against Alzheimer's Disease by Niki Kapsambelis

This book is half science, half personal. It provides a history of some of the research on Alzheimer's disease, focusing somewhat on the hereditary causes (as opposed to environmental or lifestyles causes). At one time Alzheimer’s could only be diagnosed by examining brain tissue in an autopsy. Now it is possible to test individuals for several genetic markers, and to assess levels of Amyloid plaques and tau proteins. Both are considered important in the development of the disease.

On the personal side, the book focuses on the DeMoe family, a large extended family that has been hit particularly hard by an inheritable form of Alzheimer’s disease that strikes at a relatively young age. There are several genetic mutations that may cause the disease, but the DeMoe family has one that is dominant. If you have the mutation, you will definitely get the disease, and your children have a 50% chance that they will get it too. Each person was faced with the decision of whether to get genetic testing.

This book showed the dramatic impact of the disease on the day to day life of individuals and family members. Many siblings, cousins, children were affected, and they knew that their grandchildren could also be affected. For many of them, the rest result became a motivating factor to get the most out of their life. Many had 25 years warning, and they figured they could get a lot of living and working done during that time. But for others it was just depressing and exhausting. Many were faced with the prospects of caring for parents and siblings, before becoming dependent themselves. The family very generously gave a great deal of time to the researchers, knowing that a cure was unlikely to come in time to save them.

Alzheimer's researchers desperately need more funding to continue. The disease takes decades to build, so it is hard for researchers to show progress in assessing which treatments are working. (Some donors would rather give to causes with faster returns.) The problem is growing bigger as the population ages and more people will need care. We need to put more time, money and talent into finding treatment and prevention.