this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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Asklemmy
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Hi, I am from a family with a lot of autoimmune conditions like Crohn's, Ankylosing Spondylitis, MS, and Alzheimer's. My father started to "lose it" in his late 50s, retiring a little early. He lived a long life until early 90s but the last ten years were hard on everyone. But my mother took care of him and we will tried to help.
I was 38 when our child was born. I was very concerned about passing on anything and he probably is going to have Crohn's or IBD.
But here's the thing. All of my family has done our best to live our best lives and yes it isn't the best physical condition at times but we have loved, taken chances, l made mistakes, had laughs, etc. That's worth it.
I've also known people who were ironman triathlon champs having heart attacks.
Only you can decide on kids. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to tell you the chance that you or they might have Alzheimer's doesn't have to be the deciding factor.
Also, there are pilot studies in Alzheimer's vaccines and other treatments.
One thing I don't see mentioned here at all is the financial burden incurred by caring for a family member with serious problems like this. Obviously this is very dependent on the country in which you live but at least in the United States it is very possible to be buried in debt for caring for someone else. Personally, I will be trying to pay off medical bills from taking care of a family member in their final days probably for the rest of my life barring a miracle.
I'd rather not potentially saddle my children with the same if I can avoid it.
Good point. I'm Canadian and it didn't really enter the picture. It would have if my father wasn't able to stay at home. It was very difficult but wasn't costly. Sending him to a long term care facility would have cost a small fortune.