I have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. I wanted to understand my own risk

For the documentary “The Last Alzheimer’s Patient”, Dr. Sanjay Gupta underwent intensive testing of his own body and brain to understand his risk of dementia.

I’ve been reporting on Alzheimer’s disease for more than two decades, and any progress in the field has seemed incremental at best, leaving most patients and their loved ones with few options. But in the process of filming a new documentary, “The Last Alzheimer’s Patient,” I met with people all across the country who had been diagnosed with or who are at high risk of the disease. With lifestyle changes alone, I saw levels of amyloid plaque decrease in their brains, their cognition improve and even signs of reversal of the disease. It was extraordinary and it also made me start to think about my own brain, because I have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease. So with some trepidation, I decided to learn more about my risk for dementia. It was one of the most personal and revealing experiences I have ever gone through. To start, I underwent an intensive exploration of my brain, far deeper than I even thought possible. This wasn’t a simple look at the anatomy or even the genetics that might predispose me to a particular type of dementia. The goal was to obtain a complete story of my brain, from my earliest days through my education and formative years to now: a man in his mid-50s. Most importantly, the in-depth testing could give me a clearer idea of where I was headed and how to steer my path in the most favorable direction. Even as a brain surgeon myself, I was surprised at how well the health of your brain can be measured. With the heart, it is pretty well-accepted that a battery of tests can help give us a clear idea of how to predict, prevent and treat heart disease. Until recently, however, we really could not say the same about the brain. Many brain doctors still struggle even to define the criteria for a healthy brain. The general consensus was that the “black box” in your skull was pretty fixed and that there was little you could do to assess it, let alone optimize it. Dr. Richard Isaacson, a neurologist, convinced me otherwise, and it led to one of the most fascinating — and somewhat frightening — days I have had in my life. I’ve known Richard for a long time, and we are friends. We have had great conversations about our shared love for the brain, and I often turn to him to get his thoughts on neurological developments in the news. What has always struck me about Richard is that he is consistently unwilling to accept the status quo in medicine, almost more as a matter of justice rather than scientific pursuit, although he is that rare individual who is stellar at making a difference in both.