5 ms·

That sounds pretty expensive for me for a test with that low accuracy, especially when there's not much you can do different if it comes back high vs. coming ba

That sounds pretty expensive for me for a test with that low accuracy, especially when there's not much you can do different if it comes back high vs. coming back low.

simmerup 1mo ago
I guess you can start spending your retirement money faster
- ButlerianJihad 1mo ago
  The sad fact is that some people really should. Many people find it far easier to be or become indigent and fall on Medicaid services. If you do not qualify for Medicaid, then there is a real possibility that your insurance carrier will help put you or your caregivers into massive debt for a long-term illness like this. If you do go into long-term care, Medicaid will probably seize your assets to help pay for everything. For example, a house in your name. They'll use those to pay back what they paid for your care. So if you're gonna get sick and you're gonna be a burden in your old age, best to plan for leaving this world the way you came in: naked and penniless.
- reenorap 1mo ago
  I know it’s a joke but then you’ll leave your family bearing the burden of your care. As someone whose parents had dementia, finding a place that treats your parents with dignity is extremely expensive and very rare. We were spending 12k/month and even we needed to set up camera’s and my sister slept with my mom and took care of her like a nurse. When the pandemic hit my sister couldn’t enter so every morning they took my mom, clothed her and sat her facing the bathroom all day long. The only other alternative is some sort of mental hospital which is more like a prison than anything else.
  - 1234letshaveatw 1mo ago
    No, a Medicaid funded care facility is the alternative
  - simmerup 1mo ago
    Hopefully by the time i’m there euthanasia will be legal
brandonb 1mo ago
Agreed that we can't do as much as we'd like. There are some general health things that are believed to prevent cognitive decline, such as managing cholesterol, HbA1c, blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc. One phrase I've heard is that cholesterol at age 50 predicts cognitive health at age 70. But hopefully we'll start to have more options and wider approvals for things like anti-amyloid drugs.
- pokot0 1mo ago
  if cholesterol predicted future cognitive health we wouldn’t need dedicated tests, do we?
  - malfist 1mo ago
    The forecast predicts rain, I'm still going to look outside before I throw on a raincoat
  - Quinner 1mo ago
    the better way to phrase that would be "is predictive"... there is an association, but it is not high accuracy.
- xattt 1mo ago
  > anti-amyloid drugs Isn’t the viewpoint in the last decade that amyloid plaques are likely a finding rather than the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s Disease?
  - btilly 1mo ago
    That's the viewpoint of everyone sensible outside of Alzheimer's research. Those in it are still throwing billions per year at the idea. Meanwhile, back in reality, no amyloid-beta drug has had any clinical effect in humans, other than reducing the plaques. But both the shingles and RSV vaccines are proven to reduce Alzheimer's risk.
    - isolli 1mo ago
gwbas1c 1mo ago
From TFA: > Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is important since the first treatments capable of slowing the progression of the neurodegenerative disease recently became available to patients, and these drugs are more effective when started sooner rather than later. Other promising investigational drugs are in the pipeline. A very good friend's wife had Alzheimer's caught early, and the medication she's on stopped its progression. It's much better for her than my family members who had no treatment options.
- anjel 1mo ago
  Creatine supplementation is showing some promising indications of being a low cost, mild to moderate intervention https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202505/new-research-on-creatine-monohydrate-for-alzheimers-disease https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202...
  - AppleBananaPie 1mo ago
    Whether this ends up being replicated or not, I love the classic gym bro supplement being studied for its potential benefits to the brain. What a time to be alive
    - Alex3917 1mo ago
      It's going to be replicated because we already know the mechanism of action. That said, many/most people would probably be better off solving the problem more upstream via whatever B-complex vitamins they need based on their bloodwork and DNA methylation variants.
  - someothherguyy 1mo ago
    I definitely wouldn't be sharing that as evidence of anything much at all Google scholar link for the article https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709141&hl=en&as_sdt=0,33 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709...
- someothherguyy 1mo ago
cj 1mo ago
It sounds similar to Lipoprotein(a) blood test for cardiac risk. It's (almost) purely determined by genetics. You can't do anything to improve it, other than to improve every other cardiac related risk factor. (There are some experimental drugs in the pipeline, though)
- kurthr 1mo ago
  There is an oral PCSK9 treatment (enlicitide) was recently released that provides a 30% reduction, and of course you can't get insurance coverage without the test. And there are 2 drugs with 90%+ reduction in Lp(a) in phase3 trials with expected release in 2027-8, in particular Olpasiran.
deleted 1mo ago
[deleted]

That sounds pretty expensive for me for a test with that low accuracy, especially when there's not much you can do different if it comes back high vs. coming back low.

simmerup 1mo ago

I guess you can start spending your retirement money faster

ButlerianJihad 1mo ago
The sad fact is that some people really should. Many people find it far easier to be or become indigent and fall on Medicaid services. If you do not qualify for Medicaid, then there is a real possibility that your insurance carrier will help put you or your caregivers into massive debt for a long-term illness like this. If you do go into long-term care, Medicaid will probably seize your assets to help pay for everything. For example, a house in your name. They'll use those to pay back what they paid for your care. So if you're gonna get sick and you're gonna be a burden in your old age, best to plan for leaving this world the way you came in: naked and penniless.
reenorap 1mo ago
I know it’s a joke but then you’ll leave your family bearing the burden of your care. As someone whose parents had dementia, finding a place that treats your parents with dignity is extremely expensive and very rare. We were spending 12k/month and even we needed to set up camera’s and my sister slept with my mom and took care of her like a nurse. When the pandemic hit my sister couldn’t enter so every morning they took my mom, clothed her and sat her facing the bathroom all day long. The only other alternative is some sort of mental hospital which is more like a prison than anything else.
- 1234letshaveatw 1mo ago
  No, a Medicaid funded care facility is the alternative
- simmerup 1mo ago
  Hopefully by the time i’m there euthanasia will be legal

brandonb 1mo ago

Agreed that we can't do as much as we'd like. There are some general health things that are believed to prevent cognitive decline, such as managing cholesterol, HbA1c, blood pressure, sleep apnea, etc. One phrase I've heard is that cholesterol at age 50 predicts cognitive health at age 70. But hopefully we'll start to have more options and wider approvals for things like anti-amyloid drugs.

pokot0 1mo ago
if cholesterol predicted future cognitive health we wouldn’t need dedicated tests, do we?
- malfist 1mo ago
  The forecast predicts rain, I'm still going to look outside before I throw on a raincoat
- Quinner 1mo ago
  the better way to phrase that would be "is predictive"... there is an association, but it is not high accuracy.
xattt 1mo ago
> anti-amyloid drugs Isn’t the viewpoint in the last decade that amyloid plaques are likely a finding rather than the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s Disease?
- btilly 1mo ago
  That's the viewpoint of everyone sensible outside of Alzheimer's research. Those in it are still throwing billions per year at the idea. Meanwhile, back in reality, no amyloid-beta drug has had any clinical effect in humans, other than reducing the plaques. But both the shingles and RSV vaccines are proven to reduce Alzheimer's risk.
  - isolli 1mo ago

gwbas1c 1mo ago

From TFA: > Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is important since the first treatments capable of slowing the progression of the neurodegenerative disease recently became available to patients, and these drugs are more effective when started sooner rather than later. Other promising investigational drugs are in the pipeline. A very good friend's wife had Alzheimer's caught early, and the medication she's on stopped its progression. It's much better for her than my family members who had no treatment options.

anjel 1mo ago
Creatine supplementation is showing some promising indications of being a low cost, mild to moderate intervention https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202505/new-research-on-creatine-monohydrate-for-alzheimers-disease https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202...
- AppleBananaPie 1mo ago
  Whether this ends up being replicated or not, I love the classic gym bro supplement being studied for its potential benefits to the brain. What a time to be alive
  - Alex3917 1mo ago
    It's going to be replicated because we already know the mechanism of action. That said, many/most people would probably be better off solving the problem more upstream via whatever B-complex vitamins they need based on their bloodwork and DNA methylation variants.
- someothherguyy 1mo ago
  I definitely wouldn't be sharing that as evidence of anything much at all Google scholar link for the article https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709141&hl=en&as_sdt=0,33 https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=10296105574478709...
someothherguyy 1mo ago

cj 1mo ago

It sounds similar to Lipoprotein(a) blood test for cardiac risk. It's (almost) purely determined by genetics. You can't do anything to improve it, other than to improve every other cardiac related risk factor. (There are some experimental drugs in the pipeline, though)

kurthr 1mo ago
There is an oral PCSK9 treatment (enlicitide) was recently released that provides a 30% reduction, and of course you can't get insurance coverage without the test. And there are 2 drugs with 90%+ reduction in Lp(a) in phase3 trials with expected release in 2027-8, in particular Olpasiran.

deleted 1mo ago

[deleted]