Predicting Alzheimer’s

There are reports in the news that a new test using spinal fluid is 100% accurate in predicting which people will get alzheimer’s. The problem is, there is not currently any cure nor an effective therapy for alzheimer’s disease.

I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). It has a similarity in that this disease is not curable either. There are physicians who make a big deal of the fact that they can accurately predict whether you have the aggressive type of CLL, or a milder and gentler type which likely will not cause any big problems for many years.

I prefer to face life with my eyes wide open, so I chose to get the prognostic testing done. I felt that I had a very good relationship with my employer, having worked for them and loyally served their family business for roughly twenty years at the time. So I felt entirely comfortable discussing with them the fact that I had been diagnosed with leukemia.

I will be the first to admit that I was more than a little surprised to see their reaction. Finding myself unemployed and uninsured (uninsurable too) confirmed that it was unwise of me to have shared the details of my medical condition with my employer. It appears that I probably should have been dishonest by silence and omission.

The same sort of ethical dilemma will face anyone who dares to be honest and tell their boss that a 100% reliable medical diagnostic test has indicated that they have alzheimer’s disease, and that it will only get worse.

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