Would you take a test that could predict your risk of Alzheimer’s disease?

You probably know someone living with Alzheimer’s or dementia. More than 5.8 million Americans have the disease, and 1 out of every 3 seniors has Alzheimer’s or dementia at death.

Researchers are fast developing ways to diagnose the illness years before symptoms start: blood tests, retinal scans, brain scans. But if a reliable test was put on the market, would you take it? How much information about your medical future would you want, especially when it comes to a disease that currently has no cure? Wednesday on MPR News with Kerri Miller, we spoke with an Alzheimer’s researcher and a psychologist specializing in dementia issues about the moral dilemmas raised by medical developments.

Guests:

• Dr. Peter Rabins, professor emeritus of psychiatry and medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, author of the best-selling “The 36-Hour Day” and the upcoming “Is It Alzheimer’s?”

• Shana Stites, clinical psychologist and researcher with the Penn Project on Precision Medicine for the Brain

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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