Should Patients with Alzheimer's Disease Be Told Their Diagnosis?

Evaluating and caring for patients with Alzheimer's disease and dealing with their care givers and families finds that patients are often brought by family members who suspect the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Abstract

...Over the past two decades, a growing body of literature has\naddressed the issue of revealing the diagnosis to patients with cancer, but\nthere are problems in applying the same rationale to patients with Alzheimer's\ndisease. Many of the arguments that support telling the patient with cancer\nassume relative accuracy of diagnosis, an array of therapeutic options, a\npredictable natural history, and a fully competent patient. All these may be\nabsent in the patient with probable Alzheimer's disease. Despite the belief of\nsome experts that the diagnosis should routinely be disclosed to patients with\ndementing illnesses, this complex issue has not been addressed adequately. The\npurpose of this paper is to present opposing views on the subject. Although we\nsupport the concept of truth-telling, there are important caveats that should\nbe considered. For the purpose of discussion, we focus on patients with\nAlzheimer's disease, but many of the considerations are equally applicable to\npatients with other progressive dementing illnesses....