Opinion: STAT+: ‘What will I do with the time I have left?’: What it’s like to find out you might develop Alzheimer’s

Nov. 13, 2026 Karlawish is a professor of medicine, medical ethics, health policy, and neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, co-director of the Penn Memory Center, and executive producer of the “Age of Aging” podcast. He writes Neurotransmissions, a STAT column about the new era of dementia. This is the second of two pieces about the experiencing of pre-clinical Alzheimer’s. Read the first here. In 1976, at the dawn of the modern Alzheimer’s era, the neurologist Robert Katzman, champion of efforts to extract Alzheimer’s from senility and “normal aging,” concluded his short essay “The prevalence and malignancy of Alzheimer disease” with this notably qualified call to action: “In focusing attention on the mortality associated with Alzheimer disease, our goal is not to find a way to prolong the life of severely demented persons, but rather to call attention to our belief that senile as well as presenile forms of Alzheimer are a single disease, a disease whose etiology must be determined, whose course must be aborted, and ultimately a disease to be prevented.” STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers Unlock this article — plus in-depth analysis, newsletters, premium events, and news alerts. Already have an account? Log in View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe