Alzheimer’s runs in my family. Not that anyone has been tested, but I’ve seen great aunts and uncles suffer from it. My grandmother died in her early 50s so her body didn’t have time to develop it. I do know that my father is terrified of the disease. He has told me that if he goes out on a boat and never comes back, that will be why.
There is a lot of research on Alzheimer’s and what
causes it, but so far they are learning better ways to identify it earlier so you’ll know if you might be at risk for getting it, but they haven’t figured out very much about how to treat it and stop it’s progression. Delay it a little, yes, but still at some point your mind is gone and your spouse or children or strangers have to take care of everything for you and you won’t even realize it. The newest study, conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and printed in the journal
Neurology, shows that there are physical signs of brain atrophy as many as ten years before symptoms ever develop.
I know that this could be a step, and maybe even THE step, that finds the cure for this debilitating disease. But knowing that I’m going to have it would be scary, maybe too scary. It would certainly send my father to the dock to outfit his boat for that last trip so he was ready when he felt it was time. Getting a genetic predisposition test and recognizing symptoms may allow you to be treated and delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, but I think I’ll wait until they have a cure to go along with the death sentence.
Written by www.labtestingnow.com