Would you want to know? (See Details)
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January 21st, 2011
The FDA says a new form of PET scan of the brain can show the early development of amyloid plaques in the bran 10 to 20 years before the first symptoms of memory loss begin to show up. This article and video explain the process.
The question is, would you want to know? Will you get scanned? Would the possibility of early treatment slowing the progress of the disease be enough to offset the 10 or 20 extra years of worry about what will happen when the disease ultimately wins out over the treatments? Our best medicine today can only slow the onset, not prevent it. Alzheimer’s remains incurable and fatal at this point. Not only is it fatal, it kills in a horrific, demeaning fashion most of us find difficult to even contemplate.
For more discussion on why the diagnosis is so devastating, see this question, “How would you handle it is you were diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s disease?” and the answers and comments that followed.
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20 Answers
Yes. I would want to know.
Yes, I’d like to know so I could take some steps to make it easier on my family.
Yes, I would want to know. When the symptoms become obvious, I’ll ask my wife to hand me one of my pistols and leave the room.
With the current emphasis on research who knows what might be available in terms of a cure in ten or 20 years? Yes, I would want to know.
I’m going to say no… ignorance is bliss and all that! Though I might change my mind when I’m nearer my 50’s tho’... so got a while yet.
I dont actually know anyone with, or has had Alzheimer’s, so I’m probably looking at this from a very narrow perspective. I’m just not comfortable with knowing something like that, so early..
Besides, unlikely they will ever offer this on the NHS, so privately I imagine the scan will cost a fortune. I doubt a lot of us will ever be in the position to afford to have it.
Yes, I would want to know.
Hell,yes.
I would want to know because I could then take steps to seek treatments for it.I did it with my MS diagnosis and sought alternative treatment and it is the best thing I ever did. I am skipping down the hallway now.First time in two years.:))
I am involved in clinical studies with the new PET scan and MRI that uses the largest Tesla magnet for this procedure to date.
Hell yes I would want to know. Early diagnosis makes the possibility of cure, or at minimum slowing the progression of the disease much more likely.
Where do I sign up!
Yes, I’d want to plan. I’m hoping there’s a familial aspect to this disease as no one in the family has had it.
I would want to know, once I get old enough I guess. What a terrible disease
Yeah. I’d want to know. I’d want to try to fight it. Turns out that you can fight it even without drugs. You just have to keep using it. They find brains of people with Alzheimers who never really showed symptoms while alive. Their brains are massively done in, but there is also new tissue (or something) that is a work-around the brain applies to make up for the loss in computing capability.
I hope that fluther is still around at that time, and I hope that fluthering helps keep brains in good shape.
Yes, i’d like to know because if i knew, then i’ll know how much time i have to do everything i wanted to do in my life and prepare myself for the consequences and whatnot.
Yes, I would absolutely want to know. Knowledge is power. Knowledge gives you options.
@marinelife Amen to you and all the others who said they would want to know. But your thought about all the research is particularly important. There are numerous studies underway and planned. As soon as the problem is diagnosed, you can ask your doctor to get you into a promising study. You might just beat the demon and have the satisfaction of having helped humanity defeat one of its most cruel killers.
@misstrikcy If you want to understand what the disease does to a family when it strikes one of their members, read Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It is a great book, and really gives you an understanding of what the disease does—what a diagnosis means.
@lucillelucillelucille Great news. I am so relieved to hear you are getting the upper hand in that fight. I always knew you were a fighter.
@YoBob If you are closing n on 50 (about the earliest that early onset Alzheimer’s begin to manifest its first symptoms) ask your primary care physician during your next checkup.
@faye Having a history of it in your family adds to the risk. Early onset Alzheimer’s is particularly family related, as there are three different gene mutations which know trigger it. They can be tested for with a simple blood test. But if you don’t have a history of early onset Alzheimer;s in your family, there is no need for that particular test.
@wundayatta That’s really encouraging news. Being a fighter is so important in surviving so many of the shitty things life throws at us. Gabby Giffords is demonstrating that right now.
Actually, I might WANT to take my own life before my mind was gone, but actuallly doing so is another matter entirely. After giving it some additional thought, I am of the opinion there where there is life, there is hope, no matter how slim it might seem at times. But I would still prefer to know.
@CaptainHarley I hear you. How tragic it would be to take your life in the morning and thus miss the headline of the evening news, “Cure found for Alzheimer’s.”
Yes, I would want to know and would want periodic updates. The point would be to see if the disease has slowed and to plan for a graceful exit before the disease incapicated me.
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