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timothyharleywright

The Nun Study

At this writing, I’ve just enrolled at this organization —

— that seeks to match potential participants, with research studies concerning possible genetic bases of Alzheimer’s disease.

I’m not recalling offhand how much I may have told here, of how Alzheimer’s disease took my father away from us.

Back in those days, Mom and I read everything we could get our hands on to educate ourselves about the disease.  One of the most impressive things I came across was the Nun Study.

Related: Wikipedia: Nun Study

The Nun Study followed several hundred — nuns — across decades, to see who did and who did not develop Alzheimer’s.

Now, on the one hand, endalznow told me about three gene markers associated with A.D.  Not everyone who has these markers will develop the disease, but apparently almost everyone who does develop the disease, has one or more of those markers.  It did not tell me whether or not they are inheritable.  Dad is the only family member known to me who had this disease.

On the other hand, the Nun Study found that the strongest indicator of whether or not a woman would develop the disease was, of all things, her writing style.

Two Jews, three opinons” asked about possible genetic bases for various cultural or behavioral tendencies.  Here’s another:  Who would suppose that the presence of one or more of these obscure genetic markers, would correlate to one’s writing style?  But it appears so.

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