I was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s two years ago. I was only 45 when this happened and it left me confused and scared at the same time. My neurologist had no clear explanation on why this hit me so early. His treatment options included long term use of dopaminergic meds and he asked me to adjust expectations with respect to the future. This was hard to swallow but a second opinion with another neurologist led to pretty much the same response.

Then, I heard about APOE from a friend and decided to work with them. What was different about APOE from the beginning was the quality of their doctor. I got clear answers about my condition - how it was a combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. They made me understand how advanced genetic tests could help detect causal mutations on specific genes. And a whole gamut of other specialised tests that could help understand the multiple things going wrong in my body.

It was also super helpful to understand how medication was just one tool among multiple treatment tools available for neurodegenerative conditions. Stacking the various treatment tools works way better than relying on one particular method or one particular drug. 

My son is 20 years old and has been deeply depressed over the last five years - dropped out of engineering college and even attempted suicide when we refused to let him have a dog in the house. After the attempted suicide, we consulted medical doctors, psychiatrists and therapists to get an explanation for his condition. We also did a lot of diagnostic testing, which turned out to be normal. There was no clear diagnosis and we were just told he possibly had ADHD and was suggested psychotropic drugs. He took these for a while and felt better. However, the side effects were quite bothersome and we knew this was not a long term solution.

The biggest difference we noticed at APOE was the additional tests that we had not done before - Cortisol, Omega Profile, Reverse T3, Organic Acids test and others. When we got these done, we finally started to see abnormal values. He had a severely messed up HPA axis (hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal) that was responsible for his symptoms. We finally understood what was wrong and that was a HUGE relief!!

I got very curious listening to the way Apoe team explained about medical science. They explained the basics, the mechanisms - sort of the same stuff I used to hear in my prior consultations except that it made much more sense, more detailed, more advanced, completely related to me and my health issues.

I am 60 and have 70% blockage in my LCX artery and I had no clue how to handle it. I had no symptoms and the only suggestion I was getting was putting a stent and continuing taking cholesterol medications. These medications never suited me as I figured out the hard way that they had the side effect of making me pre-diabetic even though I had no insulin resistance. These medications are better suited to take as temp solutions to bring down values and not for long term use.

I learnt all of the above from the Apoe team. My medical awareness was just nodding to what the doctors used to say in my consultations before. Never questioned or challenged, as I didn’t know even the basics, but also never got any clarity.

I actually got real clarity from Apoe team on why the blockage happened - a bit of my genetic predisposition but mostly wrong lifestyle choices that needs to change for most of vegetarian Indians. I understood about my other risk factors too of diabetes, cancer and neuro diseases. The discussions were done in detail and at the pace and language I could take.

I understand how each protocol is designed to help what part. I am working with my local doctor in weaning off my meds, my cholesterol markers are almost stable, pretty confident that the blockage would also reduce in my next scan due in 3 months.

In 9 months, I have learnt so much and experiencing such visible transformations.

Pxxx was 4 years old when we started noticing something was wrong - limited communication, no interaction with other kids, repetitive behaviors, and a general lack of ability to do things that kids his age would do easily. After a lot of doctors visits, he was diagnosed on the autism spectrum and suggested a lot of speech and OT interventions. We went through these therapies and they were of limited value.

When we met APOE’s medical team, the first thing we realised was that the science was too complicated to understand in a single doctor’s consultation. The care coordinators spent a lot of time explaining the diagnostic tests, the “why” behind each test, helping us understand the results and preparing questions for the doctor. They were also a huge help in implementing the treatment protocols.

Pxxx had an extremely rare mutation involving the KMT2C gene leading to Kleefstra Syndrome Type 2. Having this diagnosis helped us in finding the right set of treatment protocols for him - rather than trying everything hoping for something to stick, we now had a limited set of protocols that had a high chance of getting us the desired outcomes. Long road ahead for us and having APOE as a partner has been invaluable.