Personal+Genomics+of+Alzheimer's+Disease+Broader+Impacts


 * Societal Impacts: **


 * Alzheimer's disease (AD) is primarily a disease of old age.
 * With a rapidly increasing population of people over the age of 65 the rates of AD are also growing, as well as other age-related chronic conditions.
 * This influx of elderly with Alzheimer's disease is projected to put a strain on healthcare costs in the US.
 * In 2010, the United States began looking at the impacts of AD in the country.
 * Congress developed the National Alzheimer's Project Act to address the topic between the years of 2010 and 2012 (Bennett et al, 2015).
 * The G8 global dementia summit took place in 2013 to address global public health concerns related to dementia and AD.
 * The question of how to address the projected societal costs of the disease is yet to be answered




 * Ethical Impacts: **


 * Although there are several diagnostic tests that can screen for predictors of Alzheimer's disease, there is no way to know for sure if a person will eventually show symptoms of the disease.
 * Even two APOE4 alleles, which is the best genetic marker for disease susceptibility, does guarantee the development Alzheimer's disease.
 * Therefore a person may be tested for the predisposition for AD and have indicators for increased risk of developing the disease, but never show symptoms (23andMe, n.d.).
 * If a person does then develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, there is no treatment against it's progression (Reitz, 2015).
 * There's a question then if testing for the disease is necessary or even ethical.
 * Should testing be encouraged or even offered if there is no completely accurate predictor for development of the disease and nothing that can be done about it if the disease is present?
 *  In comparison, should a person have a right to know if there is an increased chance of them developing the disease?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Is it ethical to have the ability to test for a disease risk but withhold that information from the patient?
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">More work will have to be done in the future in order to answer these questions.


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Alzheimer's Disease in Pop Culture: **


 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Alzheimer's disease has recently been portrayed in several movies and TV shows.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Notebook is a popular 2004 movie based on a book by Nicholas Sparks that reviews a couple's life together as the husband struggles to cope with his wife's Alzheimer's symptoms.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">AD was discussed for several seasons of the medical TV drama Grey's anatomy when the main character Meredith Gray became the caretaker of her middle aged mother who developed the disease.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The show also mentioned genetic testing for the condition.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The movie Still Alice released in 2014 follows a middle-aged academic woman and her family as she develops symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (Douglas, 2015).



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