Find out your Alzheimer's risk from your couch
I will start by saying that this seems a little odd to me, but maybe I'm just being skeptical. Alzheimer's Mirror claims to be able to genetically determine whether at are at risk for Alzheimer's all from the comfort of your home. The main component is a saliva test that the company sends to you, and that you send back after you've completed it. It tests for a certain allele of the APOE gene, which signifies that you are at risk for developing Alzheimer's. Keeping in mind that this gene merely signifies a risk factor, if the test comes back positive, you can then begin preventative measures right away. On the site, they list their many references, so it does seem like a legitimate service. However, I don't know if I would want to do this. After all, the test result doesn't tell you whether or not you will develop Alzheimer's, just that you may. I feel like if I knew that I was at risk, the fear of developing the disease would consume me. Maybe it would even turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. What do you guys think? Would you invest in this service?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Cooper on -
I don't think I would want to know either. I think it might turn out to be a kind of self fulfilling prophecy and you would worry yourself so much you would convince yourself that you were developing Alzheimer's. I think it would be beneficial in order to treat the disease early on, but may just end up hurting you more than it could help you.
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Permalink Reply by Paula on -
Tough question..
The only reason I would do something like this would be to plan ahead. However, I feel, and maybe I'm wrong here, that a diagnosis would hopefully be made early enough for me to make arrangements.
I have heard of a similar breast cancer test that I actually would do. Mainly because if your test shows a higher probability you could get regular mammograms, etc and hopefully catch the cancer early enough. However in this case.. at least for now.. Alzheimer's is not something that there is a cure for so knowing early would just consume you with fear of what is to come.
So like both of you, I would rather not know.
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Permalink Reply by Jack Barrette on -
This test has been available for years, and its accuracy (the correlation with actual disease occurrence) has been questioned; I don't know its current status/credibility but read up on it before taking it.
I did some work with the Massachusetts co. that had the first test - they were constantly challenged by the fact that the diagnosis provided no benefit other than knowledge of the potential to suffer with Alzheimer's.
My father died with Alzheimer's, and I have to say I consider it a duty to my family to know if I will get it. Life planning is one thing we can control, from Advanced Directives to finances...
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