If you could know, would you want to?

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Replies

  • maradanielle
    maradanielle Posts: 47 Member
    I wouldn't want to know. I have had three family memebers(dad and two aunts) pass from early onset Alzheimer's and one (uncle) currently fighting all from the same family, all diagnosed in late 40's early 50's, and yet I still would't want to know. but because i know it is in my family history that recently I am working on getting healthy and making sure that all my affairs(will and POA,etc.) are in order as a just in case.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,309 Member
    Interesting question.

    No. I wouldn't want to know the future.

    I already have a will, a Power of Attorney, and a Living Will, which supposedly lays out my wishes should I become incapacitated in any way. In reality, I don't blame anyone for any choices they may make in my behalf in the future. Life takes turns and people make the choices they have to make and they do the best they can at the time.

    Life is short, and it's a mystery. I like that. Mystery suits me.
  • Beastette
    Beastette Posts: 1,497 Member
    No. Not because I wouldn't want the information, but because it wouldn't really have any real influence on my behavior. Everything I would do to prepare for it, I should probably already be doing.

    I've had several people in my life to die unexpectedly and suddenly in the last two years, so I think about loss pretty often.

    However, if the information were being collected to help find a cure or something like that...I'd do it immediately.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    I would absolutely want to know.
  • jecka31
    jecka31 Posts: 284
    During my undergrad I took a genetics course where were assigned a genetic disease. One of the questions we had to discuss was the ethics of testing for our disease. I had Alzheimer's. I made the same argument as you, If I can't do anything about it, I don't want to know.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    .... self editing... don't go there Odus... don't go there...
  • sandrinamsilva
    sandrinamsilva Posts: 651 Member
    No, just let me drift off into my own little world.

    This
  • wells0707
    wells0707 Posts: 251 Member
    Yes I would. I would write myself letters to remind me of things I never want to forget.
  • Artemis_Acorn
    Artemis_Acorn Posts: 836 Member
    I am watching my own father decline with Alzheimer's. We had a lot of familial denial in addition to his denial that anything was wrong. Now my mom is faced with trying to care for him, sell the house, make legal arrangements to allow her to proceed with the hard choices she's facing. She is exhausted and emotionally sucker-punched by the changes in him, in their relationship, in their life. She is also in declining health herself, which is being made worse by the stress of what she is going through.

    If we had known while he could have helped with all of these things, rather than hindering them, the burden on my mother would be much less severe. Not eliminated, but far more manageable. My siblings and I do what we can, but it doesn't come close to bridging the gap.

    So, if I could have a heads up, although it would be devastating and painful to face, yes, I would want to know so that I could do as much as possible to prepare - get my affairs in order, and not postpone the things we all think we'll do when we retire. I actually consider his diagnosis to be something of a heads up already. It could happen to me.
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
    This is so interesting to think about. Personally, I know I have a family history of it. My grandpa and all of his siblings except one who died young died of Alzheimer's, so I know I have a high chance of it. With that being said, I already know I'm at increased risk so I don't think I would want to know. I couldn't live life knowing this would affect me later.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    I guess I'd want to know at some point so that I could make "arrangements" (I'm something of a control freak), but knowing right now would just depress me.
  • SmartFunGorgeous
    SmartFunGorgeous Posts: 699 Member
    I'm learning that it is better to know than to stay in the dark. That's why I stayed overweight for so long. I kept turning away from the truth. I wouldn't want knowledge, but I'd ask for it... dementia runs in my family, so it is a possibility.

    However, that being said, there are ways to help your brain from developing the disease as early. Exercising your brain by reading and doing complex puzzles can help. Some of those silly word games (Word with Friends) can actually help prolong a healthy brain. I teach, so I read frequently, and I hope it means that if I am to get dementia one day (which, I realize is different from Alzheimer's, but there is a distinct similarity) it will be farther in my future than it would have been if I hadn't read and exercised my brain all my life.
  • kb455
    kb455 Posts: 679 Member
    I'd want to know. I'm a planner. I like to try and be as prepared as possible. Plus, I'd like to have the opportunity to prepare my family as much as possible.
  • RonneyKay
    RonneyKay Posts: 464 Member
    I agree with the previous poster who said "ignorance is bliss" Sometimes this statement is very very true, and in this case, for me, it absolutely is true!

    Ronney
  • VinVenture
    VinVenture Posts: 290
    There is no cure, but there are several prescription drugs (not to mention, simply pot) that noticeably lowers the speed, progression and ferocity of alzheimers. Having it in the family, there's a great chance I'll get it. I hope not, but if I could I'd find out, so I could start taking preventative measures early.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    I would want to know. As a previous poster said, there are medications that can slow the progression of the disease. Besides, I'd want to make sure my family knew what I wanted as far as care, and it would give me time to make sure I had an up-to-date will while I was still of sound mind.

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