Dr. Majid Fotuhi

We don't have biomarkers for inflammation, blood flow and lymphatic system, the rinsing in the brain, but we have biomarkers for those things.

So should you get testing for amyloid and tau?

My short answer is no.

Why?

Because

Your lifestyle changes are going to help reduce these anyway.

And if you have amyloid and tau on yourself, by yourself, if you obtain it on internet, on these companies that provide it in home testing, you're getting a test that tells you you're high risk for Alzheimer's disease and you have no one to talk to.

And that is a horrible thing.

I mean, I'm an expert and I know that there are things I can do about these things and I'll probably be more proactive, but I'm going to do these things anyway.

I don't need to have the extra source of stress.

There are other people, however, who want to know, who do want to know their levels of amyloid intolerance.

Whoa, we got to really take this seriously.

There's a spectrum of differences.

I have seen many people who once they're told they have Alzheimer's disease, their whole life is upside down because every time they forget their keys, every time they forget a conversation, it becomes a huge problem for them.

Again, there are people who wanna know, and they wanna be proactive about it.

I'm proactive about it without necessarily knowing it.

I think it will cause anxiety for me.

You should check amyloid and tau levels if you're, let's say, 60s and 70s, and you have significant cognitive decline, and we want to determine how much of the plaques and tangles are causing your brain, causing problems in your brain, and look at your brain MRI to look at other things that cause your brain, and then put it all together.

Let me give you an example.

We know that cholesterol is bad for you.