The Test That Told Me the Truth About My Alzheimer's Risk

My Alzheimer's early detection test results changed everything and probably saved me from a future diagnosis. The specific tests, and what you need to know.

When the most recent Alzheimer’s blood biomarkers became available, I wanted my results immediately.

Not because I had symptoms. I wanted these tests because of my family history of Alzheimer’s. I’ve seen too many people affected by this disease, both personally and professionally, to let this slide.

I wanted to know what was happening in my brain right now, while I have plenty of time to do something about it.

Honestly, I expected my results to look pretty good. I’ve been living an anti-Alzheimer’s lifestyle consistently for about two decades. I’ve been a ReCODE practitioner since 2016. I’ve spent almost a third of my life learning about the brain, studying the underlying drivers of cognitive decline, and teaching people how to reduce their risk or reverse symptoms of Mild Cognitive Impairment.

So when one of my own markers came back elevated, it immediately had my attention because I understood exactly what that result meant.

It meant Alzheimer's-related processes were already happening in my brain, despite my proactive lifestyle and functional lab testing. And that meant I needed to investigate for reversal rather than prevention.

This is the part I wish more people understood: relying on symptoms before you take action is risky business, especially when it comes to Alzheimer's. You can do everything right and still get Alzheimer's — because the absence of symptoms doesn't mean your prevention is working.

In my case, early detection test results led me to use more specific lab testing to look even deeper for the hidden causes driving that number up. I wasn’t alarmed, I was grateful for the wake-up call.

Finding out you have an elevated Alzheimer’s biomarker before symptoms appear is like detecting cancer in stage 1 rather than finding it in stage 4. No one wants that news. You have it. But if you had to choose, you would absolutely want to catch it early — while you still have a really good chance to stop it.

The same is true for Alzheimer’s. Early detection tests provide the opportunity to act earlier, while the brain is still far more resilient and responsive. And they give us the sense of urgency that is so often missing from prevention without symptoms.

Had all my results been in the normal range, I would have continued with my prevention plan as usual. And here's a consideration that matters: if you have a family history of Alzheimer's and your early detection tests come back normal, celebrate that, but remember, the test didn't lower your risk. You still need to be on a prevention plan.

There are now two categories of testing that matter for Alzheimer’s prevention. The first is early detection — the newer blood tests that can reveal whether Alzheimer’s-related processes may already be developing in the brain years before symptoms. The second is what Dr. Dale Bredesen coined a cognoscopy — a deeper functional investigation designed to uncover the underlying hidden contributors driving those brain changes, or potentially leading to them in the future.

The fact that we can get this kind of information early is great news for anyone who wants to be proactive about Alzheimer’s in an effort to avoid symptoms and a diagnosis. I wish it had been available for my mom. I have no doubt she would have gotten on this train.

In the rest of this email, I cover the three biomarkers I consider most important, what each one measures, how to get them, what I did after receiving my results, and something critical to consider before you do.