Blog 12: For Alzheimer's, Detection Advances Outpace Treatment Options

A reversal of dementia remains unobtainable despite improvements in the degenerative disease's ability to be detected. A new scan, available in most major metropolitan areas, allows for the disease to be detected in earlier stages than before, giving the patients and their families more time to react and plan for the future. The scan reveals plaques composed of the protein beta-amyloid, many of which lead to Alzheimer's disease, something previously only able have been done in an autopsy. Medicare and other insurers will not pay for the scans, which are risky and upwards of $3,000.

This new ability to detect Alzheimer's is unfortunate in that it disrupts whatever blissful ignorance the victims may be expereincing and forces them to confront the reality that they will face for the rest of their lives, however many years or months they have left. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, discovered that he had pancreatic cancer when he had around four months left to live and used that time to give his "last lecture" and write a very inspirational book about it. However, many others are faced with financial strains due to the current economy and have not the freedom that he had to do as they pleased and cross off their bucket lists. This new and advanced medical technology actually poses a psychological disadvantage in that respect. It is one thing to be expecting an aging population in wealthy countries, but a demented aging population is another thing entirely. The elderly, who have long been a source of wisdom and guidance for the young, are now finding their ability to do that significantly lessened. Alzheimer's is also known as Type III Diabetes, and for that reason one of the top priorities of the United States government should be to reduce the circumstances that allow for diabetes (namely fast food). However, the cost of doing such a thing frequently impedes them and a clash emerges between financial interest and the well-being of the population: in the future, what will it be forced to choose?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/health/for-alzheimers-detection-advances-outpace-treatment-options.html?ref=health