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An Ethical Context For Presymptomatic Testing in Alzheimer’s Disease

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Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Neurology ((CCNEU))

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Abstract

Myths—from Adam eating the forbidden fruit to Faust exchanging his soul to the Devil—teach us that profound knowledge can be a dangerous thing. The danger lies in knowing the future. Among the modern temptations toward a knowledge that may hold dangers as well as rewards is the genetic code. Although increasingly detailed probing of our own genomes seems inevitable, the appropriate uses of this information are much debated. The Faustian myth teaches us that a quest for knowledge, despite its price, is part of human nature. What is the price of knowing our genes?

Shall it be male or female? say the fingers That chalk the walls with green girls and their men. I would not fear the muscling-in of love If I were tickled by the urchin hungers Rehearsing heat upon a raw–edged nerve. I would not fear the devil in the loin Nor the outspoken grave.

Dylan Thomas

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Authors
  1. Kenneth S. Kosik
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  2. Stephen G. Post
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  3. Kimberly A. Quaid
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Leonard F. M. Scinto PhD  & Kirk R. Daffner MD  & 

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© 2000 Humana Press Inc.

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Kosik, K.S., Post, S.G., Quaid, K.A. (2000). An Ethical Context For Presymptomatic Testing in Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Scinto, L.F.M., Daffner, K.R. (eds) Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. Current Clinical Neurology. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-005-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-005-6_12

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9601-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-005-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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