In a strange paradox that life sometimes presents us with, Chris Hemsworth was preparing to face and overcome great challenges with his body and mind while working on limitless, the most recent National Geographic docuseries, in which they document the process of reversing the natural decline of the body, which comes with the passage of time.
But by putting his body at the service of science, what the 39-year-old actor got was devastating news after in one of the episodes of the series, in which he undergoes DNA tests, he discovered that he had a high risk of Alzheimer’s. In interview for Vanity Fair, the Australian spoke about how hard it was to receive this news.
They took all my blood work and did a bunch of tests, the plan was to tell me all the results on camera and then talk about how you can improve this and that.
And Peter Attia, who is the longevity doctor in that episode and oversees much of the show, called Darren Aronofsky [productor ejecutivo] and said, ‘I don’t want to say this to the camera. We need to have a conversation off-take and see if he wants this on the show.’
What the study revealed is that his genetic makeup includes two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from his mother and one from his father. According to studies by the National Institutes of Health, in the United States, one in four people carry a single copy of the gene, but only two to three percent of the population can have both, unfortunately, this is the case of the actor of Thor.
In addition, the star of the Marvel movies mentioned that they informed him of what was happening with a brief phone call, while he was in the company of his parents, to whom he immediately told what had happened. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior.
It was pretty shocking because he called me and told me. I had a lot of questions, but no one answered them. She wishes she had a more intense follow up because she really didn’t know what to think. I was like, ‘Am I supposed to be worried? Is this worrying?’
There was an intensity to navigate it. Most of us like to avoid talking about death in the hope of avoiding it somehow. We all have this belief that we will figure it out. Then all of a sudden some big indicators are pointing to this as the route that’s going to happen, reality sinks in. Your own mortality.
Time for a Full Body Pump-Up with @centrfit. Keep going until you hit 4 reps! pic.twitter.com/d6ZEGVcvAw
—Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) October 10, 2022
Time for a full body pump with @Centrfit. Continue until you hit four reps!
However, little by little, the famous Australian actor was digesting the news. In addition, he comments that she was not entirely surprising, since his grandfather suffers from this cruel disease. He also said he was grateful to know this, and has taken the news positively, because from now on he can start taking better care of his health and, above all, focus on what is truly important, so he will take some time off to enjoy his family.
