Alzheimer disease and pre-emptive suicide
Article by Dena S. Davis (Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 40 Issue 8, 2012)
For those who consider suicide to be a reasonable choice in the face of impending dementia, a major barrier is the difficulty of pinpointing the time to act. Recent advances in the creation of biomarkers that diagnose presymptomatic dementia invite revisiting this complex topic.
https://jme.bmj.com/content/40/8/543
Still Alice
Novel by Lisa Genova (2007)
Movie directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (2014, 101 minutes)
Alice Howland (in the movie, played by Julianne Moore), a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career, receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrXrZ5iiR0o
The Farewell Party
Film directed by Tal Granit and Sharon Maymon (2014, subtitles, 95 minutes)
This compassionate, dark comedy deals with serious issues. A resident of a Jerusalem retirement community builds a machine for self-euthanasia in order to help a terminally ill friend. His wife does not approve, until forced to acknowledge her own developing dementia. Suddenly, he’s not so sure about what he has wrought.
