Would you want to know whether or not you'll have Alzheimer's if you had the opportunity? The National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer's Association released new guidelines on the disease, in order to diagnose it earlier in its nascent stages as well as encourage more drug development. Readers and Takeaway listeners shared their own stories about the disease, worrying about the problems associated with early diagnosis. I don't think I would want to know. I sure as hell wouldn't want the insurance companies to know. Early screening and diagnosis sounds like a great way for insurance companies to expand the field of 'pre-existing conditions,'" writes Takeaway listener, Miriam, from Westwood, NJ.

In her new book, "Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age," author Susan Jacoby sets out to debunk the myths that it's possible to avoid the hardships of old age. At the same time, she argues, by accepting death and aging it is easier to retain one's dignity.

What do you think? Is living longer always better? How do you define successful aging?

We frequently talk about retired people living on limited budgets. But what about their adult children?

It turns out that many people with aging parents are struggling financially, and even facing professional setbacks. But are their sacrifices really for the best? And is there a time when they should just cut their aging parents loose to fend for themselves?

Some people know Martin Landau as the debonair master of disguise in TV history — from his role on “Mission Impossible.” Some remember him best as the groundbreaking, sexually ambiguous henchman in “North By Northwest.” However, most people remember him fondly as Bella Lugosi in “Ed Wood” — a role that garnered him an Academy Award.

But the magic of Martin Landau is that, to a certain extent, many of us don’t remember him at all. Rather, we remember the characters he plays – each with his own unique desires, language, and history. Landau virtually disappears into each one.

We're following a new development about research into Alzheimer's treatment and prevention. On Tuesday, drug manufacturer Eli Lilly stopped two late-stage clinical trials of a treatment after researchers found an experimental drug was actually making Alzheimer’s symptoms worse. The news is just one more setback in a long series of setbacks for attempts to cure or prevent the deadly disease. 

However, there was some good news recently: determining who will get Alzheimer's. Researchers reported a few weeks ago that a spinal test can predict — with 100 percent accuracy — whether people who are experiencing severe memory loss will get the disease. However, there is nothing medically that can be done, even if you know it's coming.

We’re asking, is it better to know if you're going to get Alzheimer's, or is it easier to stay in the dark? Do you have a relative with Alzheimer's? What would you have done differently if you'd had known it was coming?

What is it like getting older when you’re part of the first generation of gay people to live fully out of the closet? And who cares for you as you exit the world? We explore these issues with Laurie Young, aging policy analyst at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Brenda Austin, a retiree in her late sixties, who lives in New York and has been out of the closet since the 1950s.

Immortality has always been a dream of humanity, though in movies and books, we are often told that our mortality is somehow integral to the human experience. If you could live longer – much, much longer than our expected 79 years — would you want to?  Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Jonathan Weiner examines the science of longevity in his new book, Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality.

Whether you’re worried about high blood pressure or diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or heart disease, there are just four steps you need to significantly cut your risk and improve your health.  (For reasons I explain below, I like to think of them as just three and half steps.)

In honor of all the silver foxes out there (and the people who love them), we dedicate this week's tech segment to assistive technologies for older people.

We're talking about the costs of caring for Grandma, and whether they're going to get any cheaper with health care reform. The CLASS ACT – short for 'Community Living Assistance Services and Support' – is a section of the Senate's health care bill. It was introduced by the late Senator Edward Kennedy to lower the cost of long term care for sick or aging family members, and would allow people to collect daily cash benefits of about $50 to $70 a day to pay for home care, adult day programs or nursing homes after paying premiums for five years. The goal is offer a voluntary long term care alternative to Medicaid and private nursing home insurance.

Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich tells us how likely it is the CLASS ACT will remain in any final bill. Then Paula Span, author of "When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions," tells us how important this care is; along with Ilze Earner, who cares for her mom at home and her father in a nursing home.

The latest unemployment numbers are out, and as expected they rose. The unemployment rate is now at 10.2 percent, and 190,000 jobs were lost in October. The numbers are surprising and reveal that the recovery on Wall Street is not reaching most of America. But buried in those data are startling numbers of older workers who are being hit hard by the rise in unemployment. Louise Story, business reporter for the The New York Times, brings us the story. The Takeaway's correspondent Femi Oke went to the New York State Labor Office yesterday to talk to older workers among the job hunters there.

Women have long battled with their biological clocks, but with men like Tony Randall cranking out kids in their seventies, many men don't really think about their biological clocks. In the wake of new studies, though, that might change. Lisa Belkin, New York Times Magazine contributing writer, makes the case in this week’s Magazine that there’s now even more evidence that when it comes to making babies, men have a sell by date.

Lisa Belkin's article will be available in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday.

The largest children's study ever undertaken in the United States kicks off in 2009. Researchers plan on tracking 100,000 kids from the womb to the age when they can legally crack open a beer. Scientists hope 21 years worth of hair, urine and environmental samples will reveal why the incidence of childhood disease is on the rise.

Guest: Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times

In 30 years, as Baby Boomers retire, there will be as many people over 80 as there are under 5. And there's another disturbing trend: The number of students entering geriatric medicine is dropping. As America ages, who takes care of the grandparents?