Is ignorance bliss when it comes to Alzheimer’s?

Would you want to know that you were going to develop Alzheimer’s disease in nine years? Scientists think they have found a predictor that could tell you just that. But as this article points out, there are serious ethical questions about when to break that news to people. With no way to prevent the disease from developing, it seems the diagnosis might do nothing more than sap the enjoyment out of those remaining nine years of mental health. What do you think?
Posted by Melissa Cooley

3 Comments

  1. Gary C.
    Posted June 21, 2005 at 7:45 am | Permalink

    Its time to get the ball rolling on stem cell research.

    To bad our hope will have to wait until after the 08 elections.

  2. Joe Williams
    Posted June 21, 2005 at 10:07 am | Permalink

    I rather be told I have Alzheimers rather than slowly degenerating not know what is going on. Becaue I would want to prepare my love ones and friends and try to squeeze some more good times that I can get until the brain turns dark.

  3. E. Ireland
    Posted June 22, 2005 at 12:11 am | Permalink

    I agree with Joe. It would be infinitely better to know what to plan for than to be blindsided later.

    Gary C.
    It is a complete mis-statement to claim that stem cell research has to wait until the “08 election.” Stem cell research is currently underway in the USA and in many foreign countries. Even fetal stem cell research is underway in the USA and in many foreign countries. This research is funded by private sources and governments, except that fetal stem cell research is not supported by the US Federal Govt.

    If a research lab or a pharmaceutical company believes enough in fetal stem cell research to work under its own funding, they are free to do so and it’s happening on large scale. Why should taxpayers add to the already plentiful private funding available?

    But more to the point, saying that stem cell, or even fetal stem cell, research is being stopped by Bush is plainly wrong. It is so easy to find out that research is already going on that there’s no excuse for trumping up a political issue over the supposed lack of it.