Before You Take The Alzheimer's Blood Test, Watch This!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- Are you considering blood testing for Alzheimer's? Pause and play this first! 🎥✋ My latest video dives deep into what you MUST know before making that decision. It's not just a simple yes or no - your lifestyle, your finances, and even your mental peace hang in the balance. 💡🧠
Key insights await:
🔍 Unpack the pros and cons of the Alzheimer's blood test.
🌱 Gauge how the results could reshape your life.
🤝 Why talking to a healthcare pro could be your best move.
Stay informed, stay prepared. Check out the study mentioned here: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25171...
Watch Next:
Here is the video I mentioned: "5 Factors to Reduce Your Risk of Dementia": • 5 Factors That Reduce ...
Here is the Original Video I did on the Alzheimer's Blood Test: • Blood Test For Early A...
"Navigating Legal and Financial Planning for Dementia": • Helping someone with d...
Want personalized dementia support and to be a part of an amazing community? Learn More about our Care Course at: www.dementiacareclass.com/joi...
Subscribe to our Free Dementia Dose Weekly Newsletter: careblazers.com/dementiadose
#AlzheimersTest #DementiaPrevention #Caregiving #MentalHealth #AlzheimersDisease #Healthcare #GeneticTesting #Careblazers
Each subscription helps us continue our mission to support Careblazers like you. Plus, Niko gets a belly rub for every new subscriber! 🐾
We have lot's of free resources and trainings.
Our Dementia Careblazer Survival Guide has been downloaded over 100,000 times by caregivers around the world.
🎁 Get your FREE guide here: go.careblazers.com/survivalguide
✅ Stay up to date on all of our new dementia resources at www.careblazers.com
--
It’s our mission to make dementia caregiving easier for families caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, or any other type of dementia. We believe that in order to create a more dementia friendly world, we must first create a caregiver friendly world. That's why we create free educational training videos like this one so that anyone with an internet connection can get access to dementia care information.
__
DISCLAIMER: The content of this video - or any content by Dementia Careblazers - does not replace the need for healthcare professionals. Our content is not healthcare advice and is not a substitute for your own healthcare. It is for general education and demonstration only. Do not use this content to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical condition. By consuming content from Dementia Careblazers, you agree to hold harmless and indemnify Dementia Careblazers LLC for any and all losses, injuries, or damages resulting from any and all claims that arise from your use or misuse of this content. All content or recommendations on the company’s website, social media, blog, or email series. All comments from Dementia Careblazers’ are expressions of opinion only.
In case you haven’t met me, my name is Natali Edmonds and I am a board certified geropsychologist. That means that I am a clinical psychologist who specializes in working with older adults. One day, while hiking a trail, I came up with the idea for Careblazers and I decided to see if posting videos online could provide help to the many other Careblazers in the world who don’t get to have help come directly to them in their homes. I hope that this work helps you in some way on your caregiving journey.
#careblazer #dementia #dementiacaregiver
00:00 Introduction
01:03 Consult Health Care Providers
01:31 Start Doing Healthy Things Now
02:26 Finances and Legal Affairs
03:17 Insurance Risks
03:56 Work
04:40 NOCEBO Effect
Our Care Course offers support groups, live Q&A sessions, and access to dementia care experts. These resources are designed to help you navigate the complexities of caregiving. Click the link to learn more: careblazers.com/for-families/
No to the test , yes to better living, yes to having your end of life preparations in order now because you don’t have any promises of tomorrow.
Regretfully My challenge is over, my mom is gone but I told you you needed a Nobel peace prize and then you told me it was "the Care blazers that deserved the prize. " So happy to have you in our world. So very very happy. You are a gift!
A couple of things. My husband and I nearly divorced before we found out that his behavior was due to early onset Alzheimer’s (he just turned 53) And financially we had all our paperwork done, but are updating with this new information.
We will have to put a caregiver in place on the off chance that I die before he does. Someone to handle money, other decisions etc. For us getting the test done was critical. (He was tested for genetic markers and then followed up with lumbar puncture. He has multiple family members who had Alzheimer’s)
Thank you for explaining the risk factors. I will definitely NOT be getting the test. I already have my end of life preparations in place and have for years. I already do my best at eating right, exercising and staying focused on having a good quality of life. I don't need to be told by a medical professional I do or don't have a certain protein. Just go out and live my best life.
VERY valuable concerns. Most of them are just logical to me, but a few were, "Oh, I didn't think about that." My gut feeling is and has been, "NO", I would not want to know. I want to make decisions that are right always. Granted, I have learned about additional considerations since becoming a Careblazer, but they should have been things I thought about. Guess, the best thing is to accept mortality and plan (and adjust each year) to that reality... How many of us do that??? not enough. I am sharing my personal lessons with my sons and daughter-in-laws. LOVE your honest discussions.
Would definitely do more study/ counseling etc before I made the decision.
Will definitely share this video with our sons. Excellent objective reasons to help this decision.
Financial planning. Memory care costs $5k-10k per month, private pay (increasing EVERY YEAR!). Yes, you can protect your assets by getting them out of your name five years or more before you need care. BUT, then you are at the whims of Medicaid, which is state run. God help you, then. Seriously. Some states are better than others but, oh my god, all of them have their pitfalls. Given that the average lifespan is 10 years after diagnosis with Alzheimer's and increasing, I'd want to know that I'll need to pay for 10 -15 years of private care at a rate double the current ones. As for insurance knowing... Absolutely right! Don't let them know!! Go to a private doctor and get the test done, paid out of pocket. Don't let them bill insurance.
as much as I'd be interested in knowing, I won't test until or unless it's anonymous because of the insurance and employment risks. i agree with your comments that we should have our financial plans in place, but I'd go further than just the POA, health care, representative, living will considerations. My concerns are more about protecting my $ vs enjoying my $ since care is so expensive. I'd never want my kids to have to fund my care nor do I think medicare is a viable option since I've seen what that looks like with my mother's care - she has Alz and Vascular Dementia.
Hi Dr Natali... I don't think I would want to have genetic testing. I think if positive it would have a negative impact on being able to enjoy life in the here and now. As you say possible changes in behaviour after testing could be done anyway. That is what I am hoping to do in my case after I finish winding up my mums estate. For example I am planning to get my daughters to be my power of attorney, sort out finances, decluttering as much as I can and tell them my wishes if I did develop dementia. I have half jokingly said I would like to go to the care home my mum went to in her last few months if I could not be cared for at home. All of these things can be done regardless of having a genetic test. Makes life a little easier for those around us, if we have got our wishes and 'ducks in a row'. Am also trying to do as much as I can to reduce the risk of developing dementia by making my lifestyle more healthy, which may reduce risk of other illnesses as I age.
Great video as always. ❤
I would like to thank you for all of the informative videos you have posted; they have helped me comprehend Alzheimer's and dementia and all of the variations of type. I initially would have wanted to have the blood test but now I don't think I can handle any more negativity and fear in my life. My mother just passed of Alzheimer's in November 2023 at 81. A few years of having her move in with me so I could care for her my brother was diagnosed with Frontal temporal Lobe at 56, completely opposite of my mother. My brother will be 60 in August 2024, I am 55 and I worry constantly about myself and my 3 children. My father passed away in 1990 at the age of 49 from cancer and his sister passed away at 60 from Alzheimer's as well as his other sister, she was in her 80's. It's so difficult not to be afraid of getting Alzheimer's but I do not think I would take the blood test. I'm struggling to regain my life after being the sole caregiver of my mother for 5 years and losing her to this horrific disease that has plagued my family. I'm grieving terribly for my mother and my brother and honestly, my brainfog is quite a concern. I guess if I'm going to get it then I'm going to get it, which is extremely scary.
Oh boy, I don't think I'd want to take the test. Yet, if I could and found out I'm at risk, I could start training my care-giver! Sending them to you!
The Simon game is a game and a tool to keep in your arsenal believe me when I tell you it helps keep your mind sharp. I was told to buy one after a car accident. People should be using it daily or multiple times a day. Especially when it comes to your frontal lobe. It's fun and can be played with others. I wish that I had the bigger version but it got ruined but I was thankful for finding one travel size one at the store. Have a beautiful and blessed day 💕
Definitely because I would use this information for future planning! I currently have a LOWVD and Parkinsons-Plus for who I still care for. Also, if I could survive Malignant Prostate Cancer, Covid (twice) which took away my hearing and made me diabetic (I think), I would definitely work with the new knowledge instead of putting my head in the sand!
Thank you for sharing this information.
I am already preparing because my mom is third generation to have dementia, and I will absolutely have the test. I know people who have had genetic testing for cancers, came back with high risk, and now they can deal with the possibility beyond the basics like financial, lifestyle etc
Thank you for explaining the risk factors. You are totally right in all what you said. I changed my mind now. I would rather reduce the risk. All your videos are super important. God bless you.
Knowing could enable me to join a death with dignity group and go to Switzerland and take advantage of assisted suicide, long before the disease progresses to the horrors of late stage disease. My husbsnd has AD and we have/are enduring years of misery, expense, grief and loss. Why put my kids through this? Why drain an estate to keep a shell of a human alive? Why vanish a bit more every day and wind up in diapers 100% dependent on others? It's cruel and horrific that people live on and on in late stage AD. I never, ever want to wind up like that! The thought of getting on a plane to travel to a place to end my life scares me....but AD is far more terrifying.
ALSO, you could add #7...The dementia, Huntington's Disease, uses a blood test for diagnosis. Since my husband was at risk, we were to see a Genetic counselor first to discuss pros and cons. With being positive with the blood test, our children are all now at risk. The Genetic Counselor refused to let our 24 year old daughter take the blood test because of her mental state. There is A HIGH suicide rate for Huntington's disease, and some of the other dementia as well. We have the choice for my other children to test, but after having 2 out of 2 test positive, I can honestly day, I don't want my other kids or family members to test, because it's A HUGE weight on your mind and heart to carry around knowing what future they'll have. At least with the ALZ test, they still may not get ALZ, but why carry that weight of possibility? Too much emotional pain!!
We hadn't written any wills or power of attorney which was a big mistake, so I can recommend doing that as soon as possible. My wife cannot do any of this now as her doctor won't sign to her being "of sound mind and body" - which I totally understand. I wouldn't want to put potenial witnesses in that position either... I'm doing these things for myself now ! The health system here in Sweden is state funded so I don't know about health
insurance worries, but the rest would definitely be a concern - IF the results were ever to be released (and there are always going to be idiots who keep trying to hack this type of database). The best thing to do if you are worried about getting dementia in the future is to do what I did during the time I was caring for my wife - watch as many Dr. Natalie videos as possible. They have really helped me on my journey as a caregiver !
After hearing you talk about things to consider before taking a blood test, I have definitely changed my mind. I would never take the chance with insurance companies.. Can you please provide the link for positive things to try to reduce risk for getting this disease.
I got the 23&me test, and know I have one copy of the APOE4 allele and that has caused me enough stress. I would not get this test done. Interestingly my father is 73 and is in an Alzheimer’s study and was told he is positive for amyloid and Tao (not sure if this is known from a blood test or brain scan, as he’s had both). I think he was quite worried at first, but he actually seems happier now that a couple years have passed and the initial news has been digested.
Do the Legal "stuff" now....regardless of genetic testing. After all, whether you wanna hear (i.e., read) this or not, you're going to die, take care of your loved one's that you will leave behind. Thank you Dr. Natali for your wonderful energy and the information you share on dementia. Oh and by the way, Girlfran...You are LOOKIN' GOOD!!! WOW!!!
I would not take the blood test, for the reasons you mentioned, but especially the last one, the nocebo effect. My work involved the mind-body connection, and I know how powerful beliefs are in shaping even our physical health. Epigenetics shows us that lifestyle, beliefs, and other factors can greatly affect which genes are turned on or off. (See The Biology of Belief by cell biologist Bruce Lipton.) The study you mentioned highlights this. If you know you have amyloyd plaques, you may well believe that this means you will progress with the disease, and it may not mean that, as you point out.
My husband's neurologist did suggest some genetic testing, more because his mother, brother and sister all had dementia or some mental illness, and he wanted to rule out FTD in particular, since he said that often manifest differently in different family members if they have the gene. We agreed, then after thinking about it changed our minds, but it was too late. As it turned out, my husband didn't have the genes the doctor was looking for. He didn't test for the APOE gene, and we didn't really want him to. We still don't know what kind of dementia my husband has, but he seems to be in late stage 4 now, and is declining more rapidly. Because of anosognosia, he doesn't believe anything is wrong with him. We are doing all the end of life things for both of us anyway.
My husband's neurologist has been hesitant about using the blood tests, and I think it's because of the insurance issues you mentioned. He didn't come out and say it, but I know (and appreciate) that he's very sensitive to insurance issues.
Yes I would have it done. My husband has this was living with his daughter while I work now daughter wants to take everything away from me as spouse because she had him fill out paperwork after his diagnosis. That is elder abuse to me. Very sad now he and I suffering in hospital not eating on oxygen and kidneys getting worse.
Having a strong family history of Alzheimer's, I already know I am at increased risk. No need for an expensive test to tell me that, especially if its not covered by insurance. And I should already be doing what i need to do to lower that risk. These tests seem more if a money making opportunity. These companies should be putting more effort into finding cures that actually work rather than causing serious side effects like death!
Prioritizing future life plans, including end of life plans, may be triggered by a life-changing event such as receiving a poorer outcome medical diagnosis. But, for some people, this is what is needed to organize priorities. For others, realizing what is meaningful and important supports living life to its fullest. I agree there is reason to pause specifically pertaining to continuing health insurance and long-term care coverages. These policies in the U.S. are not yet known. And because the U.S. does not have universal health care & treats its elderly differently compared to countries in Asia & Europe, best to keep protected information such as identifying dementia markers. Thank you for such a thought-provoking video message.
Thank you for the information! Such good points.
Think I would skip the Test. Thanks for info Dr. e
Yes I don’t think I want to know and we should all put our legal stuff together now 😊
This is so interesting.. Thank you.
The insurance issue is a big question for me . I need to treat it like the covid shot,, too many negatives, I'm not doing it. I will prepare legally and healthy future. ❤ thank you again. 😊
About the blood test. We found out that Medicare won't pay for this blood test & it costs about $400. My wife's Dr wanted it done so he could have it for information on treating her. We will get it done.
Good for you! I believe we pay now for appropriate testing, preventative medicine, food therapy etc. or we pay later in ill health, loss of mobility and life as well as loss of income, family time etc. We pay every month for our Medicare, out supplementary health insurance AND out of pocket for our Functional Medicine Physician costs. We learned about 15 years ago my husband was headed for insulin resistance driven cognitive decline and i had him the office of my Functional Medicine Physician within three months and we totally changed our diet and our lifestyle. WE REVERSED HIS CODNITIVE DECLINE! for the past 15 years! NO REGRETS!
My husband will probably be getting the test in order to determine if he is a candidate for the new treatments available. If his tau and amyloid pathologies are too high, he would probably not benefit.
Hi Dr Natalie ! Totally agree with your concerns. Why should I want to hear about something that might not happen in the future ? The blood test sounds good if you're already being diagnosed - my wife couldn't have the test on spinal fluid so her diagnosis was only based on time and lots of written tests.
Thank you for this important video.
Yes I would still do the test even with cons and pros because I would like to anticipate it
Why I bought long term life insurance. I don’t worry about it. I eat organic and do all I can for a healthy life style. All taken care of on finances. Etc. no one in my family has ever had dementia or Alzheimer’s. Heart disease and cancer though.
I’ve had4 people in my family who died with dementia. I want to know and would avoid the last 3 years of no life, extreme cost and strain for my family. I’m out.
My husband has Alzheimer's .. when I first started noticing some cognitive issues (however slight and not diagnosed), I started getting our affairs in order .. that was several years ago and he is showing more signs but is doing well with most of everything he used to do (short term memory excluded) .. now, would I want to know about myself ??? NO !!!
Great information - thank you. As for myself, I have 2 copies of APOe4. I watched my Dad die of Alzheimer's, my sister die of Alzheimer's exacerbated by alcoholism and my Mom died of Vascular Dementia. I am 75 and I feel my memory is beginning to slip - I have be told I am developing MCI - so I feel I know what my future will be - I am just not sure what I can do about it if anything - I recently started taking Aricept. I have read that if you are above normal intelligence, which I have been, that this can give you "more time". I don't know if this is true or how it works - if it does actually make any difference. Have you done any videos on the effect of higher intelligence and Alz. I really appreciate your information.
Hmmm pause. It frightens me to know. However I’m doing the other 5 things to help me live a healthy life and keep dementia away. The blood test would have me plan my end of life choices. ❤️
Just did the tests. Still waiting for beta Amyloid results. I'm thinking that 1.28 for ptau 181 isn't what we wanted to hear...😬
If you are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s you can not get long term care insurance!
I would not like this test