We originally introduced you to our guest today, Jamie Tyrone, in episode 100: Enjoy Us in the Moment. In that episode, Jamie starts walking us through her experience of finding out (by accident!) she has two copies of the ApoE-4 gene, which puts her at a 91% lifetime risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to having a great-grandmother, grandmother, and two great-uncles who died of Alzheimer’s disease, at the time Jamie found out her own genetic information, her dad was living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Jamie didn’t let any of that slow her down. A trained nurse and former marketing executive, she’s now a full time advocate for Alzheimer’s research. She’s the CEO and founder of Beating Alzheimer’s by Embracing Science (B.A.B.E.S) and co-author of Fighting for My Life: How to Thrive in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s.

This is Jamie’s third appearance on the show; episode 104: I Call it a Gift, is part two of the conversation we started in episode 100. We asked her back for a few reasons: number one, we wanted to hear Jamie’s take on Dr. Jason Karlawish’s idea about introducing a new diagnosis of “pre-clinical Alzheimer’s,” meaning people could theoretically be diagnosed decades before symptoms become apparent.

(Dr. Karlawish talks about this in his new book The Problem of Alzheimer’s and in episode 146: “It’s a disease of autonomy” and episode 147: Safe, Social, and Engaged.)  As you can no doubt imagine, Jamie is in a position to speak authoritatively on what it’s like to learn about and live with that information.

Number two, Jamie is a terrific storyteller—as you’ll hear. And number three, Phil and I just adore her! 🙂 This episode is part one of three in our latest conversation with Jamie. 

(30 minutes)

Archive

With Host Christy Turner of Dementia Sherpa (Episodes 79-current)

With Host Mike Good of Together in This (Episodes 1-78)

Mike Good founded The Alzheimer’s Podcast in May 2017. Christy appears as a guest in episodes 15, 19, 21, and 23-26. She became the featured expert on the show starting with episode 28 and appears in every episode after, except 56. When Mike decided to follow his bliss, Christy took over the show in January 2019.

Questions?

Send your questions or comments via Christy{at}DementiaSherpa{dot}com, Facebook{dot}com/DementiaSherpa, or Twitter{dot}com/DementiaSherpa.