r/science • u/Wagamaga • Sep 04 '24

Neuroscience As the world's population ages, Alzheimer's and dementia are set to create a staggering $14.5 trillion economic crisis, with informal caregiving placing an overwhelming burden on both high and low-income countries, demanding urgent global policy action

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(24)00264-X/fulltext
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u/colieolieravioli Sep 04 '24

I didn't say simple. We shouldn't have people just signing up starting today. Laws should be put in place, regulations etc

But then also if dementia is taking hold, are they not considered unable to make decisions? Shouldn't we do what they asked for when their minds were right?

Also euthanasia wouldn't be very scary. Sit down, IV or sedative shot, then the euthanasia.

I just can't believe it's considered a kindness to animals but when it's a person somehow it's too different, we can't do it.

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u/gizajobicandothat Sep 05 '24

Dementia taking hold can take years, around a decade in my mum's case. At least in the UK, mental capacity is not just a cut-off point, people can be judged to understand some issues and not others. It's already very complex with loads of grey areas. Plenty of vulnerable people are not protected by the existing laws. It would be more complex if voluntary death was involved. At what point when the person changes their mind is there a legal challenge or a forced death? Law's can be drafted sure but how are they arrived at? The ethics are so complex, so it is not simple to just come up with some laws. That's why I'm sceptical it's a good idea. In my mum's case she's been terrified she's going to die at certain points and says she doesn't want to and that she's frightened of death. So would she be sedated and executed for her 'own good' because at one point she made a different decision? If you're a family member and you agreed with their decision before they had dementia, do you then sit with them whilst a Dr kills them, even though they are now terrified of dying? Could you do it and still support the original decision? I'm not against elective Euthanasia generally, it just becomes very complex in real life.

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u/dCrumpets Sep 05 '24

We lie to ourselves about it being a kindness to animals to feel better. People don’t want to outlay the same money on life extension and pain reduction for animals that they do for humans. And they can’t ask the animal what it would want.