For APOE4 carriers, knowing your risk is only useful if you know what to do with it. In this episode, Sarah walks through her path to developing a baseline, and discusses the labs that actually matter, fasting insulin, homocysteine, hs-CRP, Vitamin D etc. Sarah also discusses why standard functional medicine isn't specific enough for APOE4 biology, and how to interpret baseline data without losing your mind in the process.

Whats in this episode:

• What APOE4 actually is, and what it isn't
• Why the "nothing you can do" frame is the most expensive mistake APOE4 carriers can make
• The research caveat problem: why so many studies don't apply to people like me
• How I built my first baseline with blood work and cognitive testing before changing anything
• Why I started with Parsley Health and then moved to Dale Bredesen's PreCODE program
• What my PreCODE report revealed across metabolic, inflammatory, and cognitive domains
• Why my cognitive scores required more context than just a number on a page (ADHD, breastfeeding, medication status)
• Three practical takeaways for anyone at the beginning of this journey
• Why exercise leads Season 1, even though it wasn't where I started

Show Notes & References

Sarah is homozygous APOE4, the highest genetic risk profile for Alzheimer's disease. Her grandmother had it. Her mother was diagnosed at 58. When she got her own results, she didn't wait.

In this first episode, she traces how a family legacy of Alzheimer's became a five-year personal research project and why the window for meaningful intervention is decades earlier than most people think. She breaks down what carrying two copies of APOE4 actually means, where the science is solid and where it falls short, and how she built a protocol around the pillars most likely to move the needle: nutrition, sleep, fitness, alcohol, and hormones. This is where it all starts.

Show Notes & References