HEALTH COACH - How a city hopes to cure Alzheimer's disease

HEALTH COACH -

 How a city hopes to cure Alzheimer's disease  
 
 "I'm sure I want to know the results of my cheek swab," said Culbertson. "I do not know what the options would be, but I already have problems with memory, so I want to know." 
 Melissa Hill, 64, of Columbus is not so sure. Watching her mother decline in dementia over the past few years has left her scared about her own future. 
 "I would be more afraid of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's than anything else. If I discover [my ApoE e4 status] I would like to know what I can do, but I have to decide if I want to know "She said. 
 People who agree to submit their DNA may decide if they want to learn their results. 
 "There are many people who do not want to know," said Dorene Rentz, a neuropsychologist who is not involved in the Columbus Memory project 
.
 "What will you do if you know?" Said Rentz, co-director of the Center for Alzheimer Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Do you want to restructure your life so that you care for yourself for the rest of your life?" 
 Project participants wishing to know their status ApoE e4 must meet via Skype with a certified genetic counselor, who will not yet know their results. The counselor must verify that the participant is emotionally stable and understands enough to know his or her genetic risk. "They need to know what it means to know these things," Liss said. "We can not just get in." 
 Rufus Riggs, who lost his mother and an aunt and a paternal uncle of Alzheimer's disease, wants to know where he is. At age 74, he did not notice any signs of memory loss, but he knows that the risk could be in his genes. 
 
 

 
 Rufus Riggs 
  
 
 "If so, I want to know. Everything I can do to be active and self - sufficient I will, because if you do nothing, it 's like Put your head in the sand, which is not very clever in my opinion. "Riggs and his wife attended the City Hall, and both planned to get the cheek swab . 
 This is not only if a person wants to know his status, said Mr. Rentz. "How much does the spouse want to know if his loved one is likely to have Alzheimer's disease?" "I think this is a family decision." These are questions that the field is still facing.