The coin toss of Alzheimer's inheritance
Nature Podcast
podcast@nature.com
4.5 • 893 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2022
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Marty Reiswig is fit and healthy, but every two weeks he is injected with the experimental drug gantenerumab and has monthly MRI scans. He submits to this because a rare genetic mutation runs in his family that predisposes them to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
We spoke to him about his experience on the trial, and why he chose to continue trialling the drug even after formal clinical trials were discontinued.
Produced and narrated by Lorna Stewart.
News Feature: Could drugs prevent Alzheimer’s? These trials aim to find out
Resources for those affected by Alzheimer's:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:31.1 | The future is unpredictable at times, that the Open University are the experts in distance learning, allowing you to fit |
| 0:39.4 | study around your life. |
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| 0:46.3 | Now, suddenly your possibilities are open. |
| 0:50.4 | Search the Open University to find out more. |
| 0:58.5 | The Open University, the future is open. |
| 1:09.2 | This is a podcast extra from nature, and it's a little bit different from what you might be used to hearing from us. |
| 1:11.4 | This is the story of a man called Marty who is enrolled in a clinical trial for early onset Alzheimer's. It's emotional |
| 1:17.9 | and it touches on living with Alzheimer's and death. So bear that in mind before you listen on. |
| 1:25.2 | I want you to imagine the flip of a coin, a coin that tells you your future. |
| 1:30.6 | Heads, you win. |
| 1:32.0 | Nothing fancy, healthy life and average life expectancy. |
| 1:35.4 | But tales, tales is a different story. |
| 1:39.2 | A shortened life, a nasty disease that drags on losing everything you value about yourself. Would you flip the |
| 1:46.2 | coin to find out or live your life never knowing but always wondering? I did not want to find out my |
| 1:54.7 | gene status, mostly because I wavered. There were days that I wanted to know and days that I did not |
| 1:59.7 | want to know. And also my |
| 2:01.0 | wife and I were just on the same page that as long as we were happy, we didn't want Alzheimer's |
... |
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