Chris Hemsworth has made a sobering discovery about his health.
The 39-year-old actor has been filming for his new Disney+/National Geographic series "Limitless," which shows him exploring ways to enhance his longevity, and it was through the series that he learned he has a heightened predisposition for developing Alzheimer's disease.
Hemsworth opened up about the unsettling news in an interview with Vanity Fair, saying that he underwent tests for the series when it was discovered he has two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from each of his parents.
"They took all my bloodwork and did a bunch of tests and the plan was to on-camera tell me all the results and then talk about how you can improve this and that," the "Thor" star explained. "And Peter Attia, who is the longevity doctor in that episode, and overseeing a lot of the show, called ["Limitless" creator] Darren [Aronofsky] and said, 'I don't want to tell him this on camera. We need to have an off-side conversation and see if he even wants this to be in the show.' It was pretty shocking because he called me up, and he told me."
Hemsworth said he had "a bunch of questions" after learning the news. During the interview, he admitted he "didn't really know what to think."
"I was like, 'Am I supposed to be worried? Is this concerning?'" he said.
Hemsworth went on to explain that APOE4 is "not a pre-deterministic gene, but it is a strong indication."
"Ten years ago, I think it was more thought of as determinant," he said.
What it means though, is that he is "eight to 10 times more likely" to eventually develop Alzheimer's disease. In light of this, Hemsworth said it naturally caused him to reflect on death and his own mortality.
"There was an intensity to navigating it," he said. "Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we'll somehow avoid it," he told Vanity Fair. "We all have this belief that we'll figure it out. Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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