AccScience Publishing / AN / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/an.4393
PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE

On disclosing Alzheimer´s disease: A need of empathy

Edith Labos1* Osvaldo Fustinoni2
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1 Department Cognitive Sciences, Facultad de Medicina, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 Department of Cerebrovascular and Cognitive Diseases, Instituto de Neurociencias Restaurativas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Advanced Neurology, 4393 https://doi.org/10.36922/an.4393
Submitted: 25 October 2024 | Accepted: 13 November 2024 | Published: 28 November 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

The disclosure of an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis is not always carried out following recognized bioethical principles. Inappropriate disclosing attitudes may induce unfortunate psychological impacts on the patients’ well-being, depriving them of an emotionally balanced adjustment to the condition. We present and discuss some examples of such inappropriate professional behavior, contradicting traditional medical teaching that “there are no diseases but patients.” We emphasize patient singularity and the need for a caring and empathy-driven approach to diagnostic disclosure. We underline the need to avoid emotionally charged terms at the time of disclosure and to provide cognitive, physical, and social interaction guidelines as prevention and containment strategies. We call for a revised approach on the appropriate disclosure of an AD diagnosis.

Keywords
Alzheimer’s disease
Diagnostic disclosure
Bioethics
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Advanced Neurology, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9619 Print ISSN: 3060-8589, Published by AccScience Publishing