In alt.support.alzheimers Karen <kk5151@hotmail.com> wrote:

This is like the dilemma of people who may carry the gene for
Huntington's disease; if you have the gene, you will absolutely get it,
though no one can tell for sure exactly when.  Do you get tested for
the gene, or not?

With the alzheimer's test, knowing early would allow you to start some
of the meds like Aricept and Namenda, and stand a chance of preserving
your higher functions a bit longer, instead of after you've visibly
deteriorated.

We all fear early Alzheimer's onset most of all, but most people who
get it are fairly old.  One researcher I heard on TV said if for every
year they can delay the onset of Alzheimer's, they may spare people
ever showing symptoms, presumably because some of them will die of
something else.  Before you shrug that off as, oh, well, death or
dementia, at least consider that it will spare your loved ones and
society years of caring for you.

Then, too, it gives one time to get one's affairs in order and check
out early, if you are so inclined.

Hi Beni,
      Absolutely right. Learning a foreign language, a musical
intrument, playing games such as scrabble, chess, crossword puzzles,
etc., exercise and diet are also probably effective. About a dozen
interventions have good risk/benefit/effort ratios, and all have
surfaced within the last ten years. The next ten will see much more
effective interventions as well as prove out the ones that are now only
probable. The test should be further evaluated and made widely
available ASAP. Those who don't wish to forge their on destiny as much
as possible can pass.
      Get your head out of the sand, Evelyn!

Thomas