A new blood test can predict with 90% accuracy whether or not a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease in the next three years. Details can be found in the just published edition of Nature Medicine, where this test is being hailed as “a real step forward”. But is it? Do we really want to know that we will suffer from this terrible illness years before we actually become noticeably symptomatic, or is this a terrible case of TMI – too much information?
My guess is that this is one of those things about which we feel positive in general, but more cautious when it comes to our own lives, especially as nobody knows if having this information three years earlier will actually help the potentially afflicted or not. The hope is that it will – that treating before symptoms arise will make the treatment more effective. That is very promising, and why pretty much all people will welcome this news in general.
But until we know it’s true – that knowing you will become sick will actually help you to stave off the ravages of Alzheimer’s – would you want to be one of those in the know, or not? Do you generally approach life from the perspective that to be forewarned is to be forearmed? Or do you get panicked and depressed when new news comes at you?
Like most of us, I think, I find myself vacillating between those two postures, depending upon more variables than I can list here, and probably more than I am even aware of. That said, and despite a bit of horror at this news, I think that all of us should be able to embrace this new access to knowledge as a really good thing, even with the early onset of diagnosis. Here’s why:
Hopefully, early detection will actually translate into more effective treatment in the short term. It will certainly aid in developing future treatments for the 135 million people who will be suffering from Alzheimer’s by 2050.
Even if all that is wrong, this test affirms the importance of listening to our own bodies and trusting our own intuition and experience. It also reminds us that, as with so many things in life, just because something cannot be measured (yet), does not mean that it does not exist.
Many people who are ultimately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s report that they are “slipping” or “losing their edge”, long before their doctors can confirm anything. They are often told that it’s “just the normal aging process”, and turned away feeling like they are over-anxious, hyper-sensitive, or just plain wrong. Recent studies indicate that they are, in fact, often in the pre-measurable stages of disease. In other words, patients’ sense of themselves can be way ahead of the current medicine – perhaps until now, in this case, when this new test will let medicine catch up with our own intuitions.
So no, this is not too much information. It may not be enough, but it is a step in the right direction, and however painful the news may be, it will help us all to deal with it better. The knowledge that this test brings can help us all find a bit of healing, which is a good thing, even if we can’t yet find a cure.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”