SOME of you may have heard in the news recently about a test that could predict if you are going to develop a form of dementia in later life. This test is still a long way off being used in clinical practice, and you need to question the benefit of a test which picks up a condition for which there is no cure.

However I thought it offers an opportunity to talk to you about planning for the future, and how you would like decisions to be made about your care and treatment if you were to lose the capacity to make these decisions for yourself.

This can happen in the later stages of dementia but also in many other conditions such as the end stage of cancer and heart failure. It can also occur after major trauma especially involving a head injury.

Of course we would rather not think about these issues but it is better to plan in advance to avoid events such as admission to hospital for painful and distressing treatments which may be unnecessary. This is known as ’advance decision planning’, or more commonly as a ‘living will’.

You can prepare a statement about your likes and dislikes, where you would like to live, what treatment you would or wouldn’t like to receive, or any other issue that is important to you. To do this you will need to fill in one or more documents.

Examples of these can be found on several charity websites including Age UK and the Alzheimer’s Society as well as on the NHS Choices website. These sites also contain a lot of useful information on the topic.

A living will can be a comfort, and I recommend you discuss it with members of your family and friends.