Next week’s snowstorm. The Phillies’ shot at the 2011 World Series. Whether your retirement savings will last. We can make predictions about plenty of things, and soon there’ll be one more: your risk for Alzheimer’s disease. A flurry of research is producing new checks for this progressive brain disease. On one level, that sounds like great news. On another, because there’s no way to stop Alzheimer’s yet, do you really want to know? Smart question. Here’s our answer. In January, a new brain scan that spots telltale buildup of Alzheimer’s plaques — the tangly stuff that gunks up the brain’s workings — was front-page news when a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended its approval. There’s just one “but”: The committee first wants evidence that radiologists agree on how to interpret the scans and that doctors can be trained to read them accurately. The scan is just one of several Alzheimer’s tests; others include an experimental blood check for antibodies associated with degenerative brain disease, and a spinal fluid check for two proteins (beta amyloid and tau) linked to Alzheimer’s.
But because there’s still no cure for this devastating brain disease, many experts are discouraging consumers from taking early-warning tests that could deliver heartbreaking news.
