A fellow from a family prone to Alzheimer’s is thought to have not been subjected to it because of his job:
Ship engine rooms can reach temperatures of 50°C (122°F) and Whitney [the person who mysteriously has not had Alzheimer’s] was sometimes in them for hours at a time [during his working years], occasionally having to be hosed down to avoid overheating.
Possibly as a result of this heat exposure, Whitney has unusually high levels of heat shock proteins in his cerebrospinal fluid. Our bodies produce these in response to heat to repair and refold certain other types of proteins that might be damaged by the increased temperature.
These high levels of heat shock proteins may have prevented Whitney from developing Alzheimer’s disease by regulating an important brain protein called tau … [“Man destined for Alzheimer’s may have been saved by accidental therapy,” Alice Klein, NewScientist (9 May 2026, paywall)]
It makes me think that we know we’re essentially chemical/mechanical creatures because of phenomenon like this.
