TO KNOW YOUR OWN FATE

A TEST FOR EARLY ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE MAY CREATE A DILEMMA FOR PATIENTS UNLESS TREATMENTS ARE FOUND

For most people, a momentary lapse of memory seems no more serious than getting the hiccups. But Los Angeles attorney Sally Weinper shudders every time she misplaces a file or draws a mental blank on a fine point of law. Weinper, 54, has already watched three aunts die of Alzheimer's disease. And now her mother is suffering from this terrifying illness that slowly destroys the brain and mind. "Because I know I'm at risk," Weinper says, "this insidious threat runs through every day of my life. To be trapped in your body but not be able to formulate words or recognize...

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