When Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family, it raises a difficult but unavoidable question: Will it happen to me?
CBS News Miami anchor Lauren Pastrana has asked that question herself. Her grandmother and great-grandmother both battled the disease. So did other relatives.
Now, Pastrana is exploring what her own future—and that of her loved ones—might look like, and how science is helping answer that question.
Sisters, same family history, different paths
Pastrana sat down with her mother, Magda Fernandez and her aunt, Martha Brown—sisters who both watched their own mother, Gladys, suffer from Alzheimer’s.
“She always thought that she was going to suffer from this. Always,” Magda said. “She was fearful of that—that it would happen to her because it happened to our grandma. It happened to my grandma’s sister. But yet my grandma had two sisters.”
One of those sisters lived a long, healthy life without ever developing the disease.
Martha and Magda share the same family history, but they’ve made very different choices when it comes to testing.
Martha, a meticulous record-keeper, chose to take a newly FDA-approved blood test that’s 92% accurate in detecting early signs of Alzheimer’s.
“I had it done, and sure enough, the TAU were elevated, much higher than what they’re supposed to be, and my amyloid is also much higher than what the levels are supposed to be,” Martha said.
She followed up with a PET scan and waited several tense days for results.
“Negative scan consistent with sparse to no amyloid neuritic plaques,” she read from the report, smiling. “Oh! I have a good brain!”
To test or not to test? Doctors say timing matters
Magda has chosen not to get tested—at least not yet.
“If I would start feeling something that would definitely be indicative of ‘this is not going well,’ yes, I will go and do the appropriate things,” she said. “But right now, to go and have tests that tell me ‘Oh, you might, you might not.’ No, I’m not there.”
Dr. Peter Gliebus of Baptist Health supports that cautious approach, especially for those who aren’t showing symptoms.
“For somebody who is asymptomatic… I actually don’t recommend getting any biomarker studies—the blood works that are available—unless this is for very specific research,” Dr. Gliebus said.
He noted that while testing may bring clarity, there are currently no treatments proven to stop or reverse Alzheimer’s in people who are still symptom-free. That could change in the future.
Carrying their mother’s spirit forward
For now, both sisters are focusing on enjoying life, staying mentally active, and cherishing memories—just like their mother did.
“One of the things that I hold in my heart, that I get from her, is to save all those memories,” Martha said. “I have become that keeper.”
“My mom had such a positive attitude and would always say, ‘There’s always a tomorrow,'” Magda added.
Although they’ve opted out of genetic testing—which can indicate increased risk but not a definitive diagnosis—the sisters say they already know what really matters: honoring the past while living fully in the present.
