Importance of the Genetic Diagnosis of Young Onset Alzheimer's Disease: Presenilin Presented in Still Alice

Abstract

Alice in the movie Still Alice suffers from Juvenile Alzheimer's disease. Incidences of Alzheimer's disease tend to be sporadic cases in which clinical manifestations begin after 65 years of age. However, the majority of the Juvenile type of Alzheimer's disease occurs at 50-60 years of age, and is usually induced by genetic mutations, such as amyloid β, and the presenilin 1 or 2 genes. Genetic examination revealed that Alice possessed a mutation of the presenilin gene. This movie presents her conflicting emotions around the genetic testing of her three children.