Help for adult child who fears getting ALZ

aconite

DH is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.  My children are supportive but is easily overwhelmed by his fears of also getting the disease.  Does anyone know of any resources that would be helpful?  

We do know about seeking professional counseling help.  I'm looking for anything to read (online or other) or support groups especially for adult children who are not the active caregiver.  He's in southwestern Ohio; we're in southwestern PA.

Nowhere

I would stress with your children that all the research is indicating a healthy life style of eating nutritious foods, getting good sleep, exercising, engaging in social, physical and educational activities as an active and engaged life-style is the greatest avenue to avoiding Alzheimer’s. I’d advise  they speak with their medical doctor and a professional genetic counselor before making any decision to genetic test to discover dementia risk.

My husband has lost three siblings and his father to Alzheimer’s. He was interested in genealogy and participated in 23 & Me, not expecting to learn about his propensity for Alzheimer’s. When first marketing DNA testing, the company was not allowed to address medical/disease relating to a person’s genetic data. It was several years later that the company contacted him deliberately pointing to his two copies of APOE4 gene, putting him at 10x increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s. At this point, he couldn’t reason or recall submitting his saliva to the company as was in probably Stage 5. 

My adult children emphatically do not want to know their risk for inheriting the disease. Lately, I’ve been thinking that I might feel better if I had a saliva test and knew whether or not I had the gene to pass on to them, because if I don’t, I think they have less the chance of developing it (but I don’t really know this, and from what I understand, even some individuals with two copies have escaped Alzheimer’s clutches). My biggest fear is that one, or the other, or both could inherit their father’s disease. It doesn’t keep me up at night, but it will be forever in the back of mind. 

Perhaps, they would find the info on this site reassuring-

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/types-dementia/who-gets-alzheimers-disease

PS - I’ve just edited my reply to admit that while writing this post, I totally burned my oatmeal forgetting I’d put it on the burner. The irony! The horror!!

Ed1937

I don't remember where I read it, but it said that familial Alzheimer's disease is only a small percentage (maybe 5%) of all cases. Here is a link to a youtube video I found that might be helpful. I have not watched it, but it seems to fit what you are looking for. How to talk to kids about familial Alzheimer's disease 

aconite

Thank you both for your suggestions!