If you could know, would you want to?

LabRat529
LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
in Chit-Chat
I just went to this awesome seminar on normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. There's this newish technique- it's not common and its super expensive, so right now its mostly used for research- but with this technique, you can image senile plaques in the brain BEFORE you start getting the mental declines associated with Alzheimer's disease. These senile plaques are very closely linked to the disease... and so the idea is... you can predict that someone is going to get Alzheimer's disease before they start showing symptoms. Which made me wonder.... would I want to know?

The problem is... you can't do a damned thing about it. There aren't any drugs you can take. Exercise might help a little tiny bit, but its not going to keep you from getting the disease if you're going to get it. A healthy diet will help, but again, its not going to keep you from getting the disease if you're gonna get it.

So with that in mind... I don't think I'd want to know.

What about the rest of you? Would you want to know if you were going to get Alzheimer's disease?

Or for that matter... would you want to know you were going to get any terminal disease before you actually got it?
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Replies

  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    If there's no cure, and a very slight chance I can do anything at all to even help a little to prevent it, then no way, no how would I want to know. I like to think I live my life to it's fullest now, and if I had the knowledge of a terrible illness down the road, I think I'd stress too much about making sure I did everything right in the moment.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I would want to know. I hate surprises.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Too late. I have it now.
  • madubil
    madubil Posts: 131 Member
    I'm not sure I would want to know- although I would appreciate th heads up bc I might do more things in my life before it strikes. But who would want to live every day knowing it was coming down the road...
  • Laura_Ivy
    Laura_Ivy Posts: 555 Member
    There is no effin way I would want to know.... Alzheimer's scares the crap out of me. Especially since there is no cure.... *shivers*
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    I would want to know. I would want to be able to tell my family (especially my children) that one day it may appear that I have no idea who they are, but deep within, without being able to communicate it, I will know.

    I have a 43 year old sister with early signs of Alzheimer's. She's not speaking to me right now because she thinks I owe her money for a present she bought for my mom years ago that I never paid half of. Sucks.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    No, just let me drift off into my own little world.
  • babyworms
    babyworms Posts: 1,304 Member
    I would want to know so that i could get everything in order before i declined - Power of attorney and guardianship, Advanced directives, make sure my family know my wishes... I spend my days around people with dementia who have not got things in "order" before declining, and it's a painful mess for the family, and it's not fair on the patient.

    Also my hope is that by the time i'm old enough to get dementia (yes, i know it's happening younger and younger!), the legal view point on euthanasia has changed, so i would want to make sure that my family knew my wishes on that point as well.

    And i would want to do everything i'd always put off before i got too muddled and couldn't do it anymore.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
    I would want to know. I would want to prepare things, set certain things into motion before it was too late.
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
    I'd want to know. I'd want ot write letter upon letter to my friends and family to be passed out every year after I get bad.
    Telling them how much I loved them and care about them. Special things about them.

    That way, they know at one point I knew.
    I remember how bad it felt to hug a family member who had no clue who I was.
  • SinIsIn
    SinIsIn Posts: 1,865 Member
    I think I would like to know.. hopefully I remember that i already knew it was going to happen tho.
  • La_Amazona
    La_Amazona Posts: 4,855 Member
    NO! I don't want to know. I'd probably live paraonoid and scared. I rather live the rest of my life, whether that's 1 day or 50 years to the fullest. If I knew when I was going to die, what diseases I'm going to get, what's going to happen, I'd live sheltered and afraid.
  • Tujitsu56
    Tujitsu56 Posts: 392 Member
    I think I'd want to know. In fact, I think I do know that it's going to happen at some point. I don't remember much as it is from when I was a kid, I'm only 24 now:)

    Anyway, knowing would be further motivation for fitness and healthy lifestyle. I'll take it wherever I can get it.
  • Tujitsu56
    Tujitsu56 Posts: 392 Member
    The real question is what would you do once you found out?
  • cjpg
    cjpg Posts: 433 Member
    I would want to know because it would be selfish to keep that from the ones you love.
  • JediMaster_intraining
    JediMaster_intraining Posts: 903 Member
    I wouldn't want to know. I am already a paranoid person! I can't imagine what crazy things I'd do and think until it strikes!
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    I would want to know so that i could get everything in order before i declined - Power of attorney and guardianship, Advanced directives, make sure my family know my wishes... I spend my days around people with dementia who have not got things in "order" before declining, and it's a painful mess for the family, and it's not fair on the patient.

    Also my hope is that by the time i'm old enough to get dementia (yes, i know it's happening younger and younger!), the legal view point on euthanasia has changed, so i would want to make sure that my family knew my wishes on that point as well.

    And i would want to do everything i'd always put off before i got too muddled and couldn't do it anymore.

    With out a doubt this.
  • brit49
    brit49 Posts: 461 Member
    ignorance is a bliss!!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    I would like to know. I'd take a lot of vacations, spend extra time with kids, grand kids, etc. Spend all my retirement money.
  • luluadelmann
    luluadelmann Posts: 5
    I thought about your question and at first thought I wouldn't want to know. But then I thought about my husband. I would want to prepare financially. I would want to seek out care facilities and make sure my husband knew that he should get on with his life without any guilt. I would need to do that while I was still in control. I might also want to do something earlier rather than putting things off. I might also want to focus on different things for the time I had left. anything that I could to relieve my husband's suffering, I would want to do.

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