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If you could be tested for Alzheimer's genetic markers, would you?

P

preCRT

Platinum Member
Looks like they have identified some genetic mutations that may signify a heightened risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. A test for these specific mutations in the not too far off future is quite likely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22025100

There are tests now for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that increase the likelihood of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. Bear in mind that there are prophylactic measures one can take to ward off breast & ovarian cancer but none against Alzheimer's. So it is much like testing for markers of Huntington's, a difficult choice with no clear upside, especially if you test positive.


Would you choose to be tested for the Alzheimer's genetic markers?
 
Well yeah nothing to lose getting tested.... but at the same time no one related to me has had Alzheimer's or dementia either.
All kinds of cancer and other things but not that.
 
Matthiasa said:
Well yeah nothing to lose getting tested.... but at the same time no one related to me has had Alzheimer's or dementia either.
All kinds of cancer and other things but not that.
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If you tested positive you would know years or even decades in advance of the awful fate awaiting you [and your loved ones] with no way to prevent Alzheimer's from happening.
 
Genetic markers indicate an increased chance. The article was about one that only slightly increased the chance.
If you read farther down there is a lot of other factors that come into play as well.

Hint in life you will never get out alive. 😛
 
Not until something can be done about it. Otherwise I'd spend the rest of my life wondering if something had just slipped my mind, or if I had begun to show symptoms. It would REALLY suck to go through that and then end up not getting Alzheimer's too. Not that avoiding Alzheimer's ever sucks, but to go through life second guessing every fuzzy memory when I could have just remained blissfully unaware and been fine is stupid.
 
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SlitheryDee said:
Not until something can be done about it. Otherwise I'd spend the rest of my life wondering if something had just slipped my mind, or if I had begun to show symptoms. It would REALLY suck to go through that and then end up not getting Alzheimer's too. Not that avoiding Alzheimer's ever sucks, but to go through life second guessing every fuzzy memory when I could have just remained blissfully unaware and been fine is stupid.
Click to expand...

This, more often than not, is the main cause of perceived memory problems. When we pay attention to how much we actually forget during the course of a normal day, it freaks us out. And by being freaked out, we set ourselves up to forget more than we likely would have without being freaked out.

Vicious cycle.
 
Alzheimers is probably the best disease ever. You could be dying and truly not give a damn about it since you don't know any better.
 
amdhunter said:
Alzheimers is probably the best disease ever. You could be dying and truly not give a damn about it since you don't know any better.
Click to expand...

You couldn't be more wrong.

My cousin developed early onset Alzheimer's in his 40s. He was married, had 2 young kids and ran his own business. He ended up having to sell the business, for lots less than it was worth, because he could no longer run it. That's when they started to notice he had a problem, when he could no longer figure out how to make change or run a cash register [it was a butcher shop]. He spent countless hours crying & depressed because he could no longer help his kids with their homework. He began getting lost while driving around.

He is in his early 50s now, can no longer drive, or even read. Many days he barely talks. He is in adult daycare several days per week. His older son is in high school, the younger one just out of elementary school. He probably won't even recognize his younger son when the boy enters high school. His wife was robbed of a life partner, his children robbed of precious father-son growing & learning experiences, his elderly father is grieving the loss of a son whose life and soul are disappearing well before his time.

Alzheimer's sucks.
 
I think it's probably the worst disease imaginable. To completely lose your identity, every person you loved, every memory you cherished, everything you had worked hard for. Not to mention the unimaginable toll it takes on your loved ones.

There is a history of it on my dad's side. Not of his direct ancestors but some one of my grandma's sisters had it. If there was a DNA test to find any potential hereditary diseases, I'd take it. At least you could take precautions against them.
 
I'm not quite sure what you're saying for about "no prophylactic measures" being true. There are risk factors - inactivity, coronary artery disease, diet, more - that can be addressed. I've heard some people try to refer to it as a "type III diabetes," which is highly dramatic. But it does have a lot of environmental contributors. It's not just all genetics.

And yes, I'd be tested.
 
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