“If you could choose one — and only one — particular malady, condition, or disease for which a safe and effective treatment was available, what one condition would you choose to treat and why is that your choice?”

If there could be a cure for one disease in the world, I would choose Alzheimer’s. Other diseases deprive you of your life. Alzheimer’s deprives you of yourself. I can’t imagine a worse fate than being trapped inside myself, losing my personality, intelligence, memory, mobility and dignity–and having my loved ones witness this. I’ve watched this happen with my sister and will seize any means to keep it from happening to me. I’ve speculated that perhaps you just go into an interior world that is magical in its own way, but I think that is really just wishful thinking. In truth, I fear it the most of anything, as by the time you are in its throes, there is really nothing that can be done. With other diseases, you have a choice… attempt a cure, and if it doesn’t work, choose a bridge to jump off or a pill to take. With Alzheimer’s, unless you make this choice early-on, it is too late.

For Fandango’s Provocative Question #27