We've already discussed the function of the APOE gene in the development of Alzheimer's disease on the blog.

A take-home message is that having two versions of the APOE 4 isoform increases your risk of Alzheimer's disease by nineteen times. However, having four copies, even two, does not guarantee that you will acquire Alzheimer's disease. Despite the fact that the link is widely established, it is rarely employed in clinical diagnosis.

However, in this piece, I'm going to focus on one specific issue: whether or not 4 carriers should follow or avoid a ketogenic diet.

For those who aren't acquainted, a ketogenic diet is consuming a lot of fat in order to force the body to use ketones instead of glucose as its primary fuel source (which are a source of energy produced when the body burns fat, as it does during a fast).

Our bodies utilize carbohydrate fuel, often known as glucose, for energy in normal conditions, and glucose is what fuels the brain.

The results of the mice research and early human studies are encouraging, and numerous clinical trials (with no results yet) are now underway to investigate this impact.

Two of these studies are particularly intriguing because they may provide light on the impact of a ketogenic diet in people who are at risk for Alzheimer's but do not yet have the disease.

So, what's keeping everyone, especially those who are 4 positive, from adopting the ketogenic diet?

To begin with, the absence of response in four positive people is extremely remarkable. The simple explanation is that the dietary treatments mentioned did not persist long enough in this cohort to observe an impact; another possibility is that the symptoms are more severe in these people and so cannot be seen.

At this time, we just don't know.

In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative illnesses, the ketogenic diet is an alternative treatment method that promotes the survival and function of motor neurons, the nerve cells that regulate muscular movement. It is a diet that is heavy in fat (80–90%) and low in carbs and protein.