To Know or Not to Know : Ethical Issues Related to Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease
Joint Authors
Zetterberg, Henrik
Brax, David
Mattsson, Niklas
Source
International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Issue
Vol. 2010, Issue 2010 (31 Dec. 2010), pp.1-4, 4 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2010-06-27
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
4
Main Subjects
Abstract EN
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), pathological processes start in the brain long before clinical dementia.
Biomarkers reflecting brain alterations may therefore indicate disease at an early stage, enabling early diagnosis.
This raises several ethical questions and the potential benefits of early diagnosis must be weighted against possible disadvantages.
Currently, there are few strong arguments favouring early diagnosis, due to the lack of disease modifying therapy.
Also, available diagnostic methods risk erroneous classifications, with potentially grave consequences.
However, a possible benefit of early diagnosis even without disease modifying therapy is that it may enable early decision making when patients still have full decision competence, avoiding problems of hypothetical consents.
It may also help identifying patients with cognitive dysfunction secondary to other diseases that may be responsive to treatment already today.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Mattsson, Niklas& Brax, David& Zetterberg, Henrik. 2010. To Know or Not to Know : Ethical Issues Related to Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease،Vol. 2010, no. 2010, pp.1-4.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-502549
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Mattsson, Niklas…[et al.]. To Know or Not to Know : Ethical Issues Related to Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease No. 2010 (2010), pp.1-4.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-502549
American Medical Association (AMA)
Mattsson, Niklas& Brax, David& Zetterberg, Henrik. To Know or Not to Know : Ethical Issues Related to Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 2010. Vol. 2010, no. 2010, pp.1-4.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-502549
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-502549