Hemsworth to ‘continue with life’ despite Alzheimer’s risk

Chris Hemsworth wants to “continue on with life” despite the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease because it’s “not a problem at this point”.

The Thor star was told he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene which makes him eight to 10 times more likely than other people to develop the illness, which has already struck his father Craig, but he is adamant he doesn’t want his life to be overshadowed by worries about the future.

“This has become a very prominent conversation in my world, because I also have two copies of the gene that puts me in a higher-risk category for Alzheimer’s,” the Australian actor said his new documentary A Road Trip to Remember.

“But it’s not a problem at this point, and it may never be. So I’m far more focused on my dad right now.

“I feel like it’s too far off, hopefully. I’d rather just continue on with life.”

In the new Disney Plus documentary, Hemsworth is seen spending time with his dad as he battles symptoms of memory loss and confusion.

The actor explains his dad has “early-stage Alzheimer’s, and there’s definitely good days and bad days”.

The pair embark on a road trip across Australia on motorbikes, making stops at their former homes in Melbourne and the Northern Territory in a bid to help Craig with his memory issues.

The Hemsworth family’s home in Melbourne was given a major overhaul to return it to its state in the 1990s when they lived there as part of an exercise designed to help Craig, who admitted: “(It felt) strange. (But) it’s very satisfying recognising stuff that I hadn’t thought about for a long while.”

The documentary also features Craig’s wife Leonie, who confessed she’s struggling to deal with her husband’s prognosis and finds thinking about the future to be quite “terrifying”.

“As a partner, it’s difficult because I want him to still be the person he was, and I want the relationship. I want that relationship,” she said in the film.

“Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and it can be quite terrifying to think where it’s all going.”

There is no single, definitive Alzheimer’s test, but there are a range of assessments used to make a diagnosis – especially in specialist settings. First, a person typically sees their GP, who will check medical history and do basic cognitive screening (memory, thinking, behaviour). More detailed evaluation is then handled by specialists (neurologists, geriatricians) or memory clinics.

Diagnostic steps often include:

• Neuropsychological or cognitive tests, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or other memory and thinking assessments.
• Blood and urine tests to exclude other possible causes of cognitive decline (e.g., vitamin deficiencies, thyroid problems).
• Brain imaging, typically MRI or CT scans, to rule out other structural problems (tumours, strokes) and look for changes consistent with Alzheimer’s.
• Biomarker tests: In more advanced settings, tests may look for Alzheimer’s-specific proteins. These could include PET scans to detect amyloid plaques, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis (via lumbar puncture) for amyloid and tau proteins.
• Emerging blood tests are also being developed, which might help detect Alzheimer’s more easily in future.

Because Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, diagnosis tends to combine clinical assessments, biomarkers, and imaging — especially if a patient is being considered for new treatments.

Current numbers in Australia

• In 2024, there were around 425,000 Australians living with dementia, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
• More recent estimates (2025) suggest about 433,300 people with dementia in Australia.
• Alzheimer’s disease, as the most common form of dementia, likely affects a majority of those people.
• Dementia is a major and growing problem: it was the leading cause of death in Australia in 2023, accounting for over 17,500 deaths in 2024 data.
• Projections suggest that, without major medical advances, the total number of Australians with dementia could more than double by mid-century, potentially exceeding 800,000 by 2054.

Early diagnosis is becoming more important, especially as newer therapies targeting Alzheimer’s (such as those addressing brain amyloid) are emerging. If you suspect Alzheimer’s in yourself or a loved one, the best step is to talk to a GP about cognitive testing and potential referral to a memory clinic.

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