As all of us age we face some inevitable issues. Heart disease, strokes, cancer, Diabetes, and Dementia and Alzheimers. We have suffered losses within our family and friends and some members of this forum who passed from these diseases. My mother suffered badly from Dementia which ultimately led to Alzheimers. She went from forgetfulness to not knowing anyone in our family except me. I cared for her for 31 years as my Dad passed away early and I had no siblings to help only my wife and family. She passed from a UTI infection and it was a blessing. I am pushing 76 and have begun to think about my chances of inheriting this awful disease from my mother. I have done some research and have found an excellent book which specifically addresses this disease. It has won national acclaim as the best research done in understanding this disease and taking steps to recognize and preventi it. The name of the book is Unbreakable Brain. It explains in very understandable context about the functions of the brain and the underlying factors which cause Dementia and Alzheimers in it. I won't go into detail but some important points I read are that women are 2 times more likely to develop it than men. It covers the Risk factors that can lead to the development of it (Drugs, Lifestyle, Diet, Testing, Brain needs and finally prevention). I talked to my doctor today and he knows of the book and the author. He recommends that I follow the advice and plan outlined in the book. I am not pushing this book. I am just sharing my experience with this awful disease and my intent on learning more about it. I have been on this forum for 20 years and have grown to care for a lot of the members on it. So, for what it is worth, among people who are 71 or over 16% of women have either disease or both and 11% of men do. Think about it.

 

Ray at 62, it bothers me that I am not as sharp as I was when I was younger.
I know some of my meds are responsible for some of it. ( oh so this is what mortals feel like)
So first off, I suspect one day I will clutch at my chest and that will be that.
My father died of a MI at age 40, so could say I have had 22 years of playing with house money.
They say suicide is a bad thing but I will not fade away as the saying goes.
There will be a point when I will say it is time. There will not be the "long good bye."
I watched my father-in- law slowly fall apart over 6 years and then the last two when he was not alive only subsisting on a feeding tube.
A control freak to the end, I will pick the time if it becomes necessary.
If and when I cannot make that decision, I have told my son to get the pillow.

 

Bless you sir. This disease is the most brutal thing I have experienced with a loved one. In our family it took two aunts, an uncle, my sister’s Mother-in-Law and my Father-in-Law. He lived with my wife and I for close to 2 years, until we were unable to lift him off the floor.

Thank God he was a veteran. My wife was able to find a facility within walking distance.

I wouldn’t wish this one an enemy, the best way I can describe it is Muscular Distrophy of the brain. It is harder on the care providers than the patient. Unbelievable until you see it first hand. The little things we take for granted like knowing where you are, what address, city or state you are in. Unable to remember what you had for breakfast, however can recall crossing the mountains of Germany in WWII. As a favorite food, after 80 plus years unable to identify corn and these are the early stages.

Thank you for posting this and for your service sir!

 

I have in another thread mentioned my long-term and continuing relationship with my many friends from high school. Therein that friendship is a benefit which none of us could have foreseen many years ago. One of our crowd seems to be in the early stages of dementia. He is the sole surviving member of his family and never had children from his marriage. Five of us coordinate behind the scenes and call him one on each weekday. Today was my day. He wants to take his usual winter trip to Florida and have his car driven down to him. The problem is that he gets lost in unfamiliar environments. So, one of the guys has invited him to stay in his spare bedroom and drive him wherever he needs to be. We are now trying to convince him that it is the right thing to do. Essentially, we are now his only family until he gets to the point where it's too much for us.

The pain is watching the decline. He was clever in school, graduated BC with a degree in mathematics and worked his way up the executive path in General Electric from which he retired 13 years ago. I get emotional when in conversation he covers the same ground that we discussed 5 minutes ago and then 5 minutes before that. Heartbreaking.

 

Harry, we should all be so lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends watching over us. We feel your pain. Rick's Mom suffered from Alzheimer's. It's not easy for those around them.

 

That was my Mother's condition for the last few years of her life. Visit her for ten minutes and you'd think "this person is fine, what is she doing inn a nursing home?" Visit for 20 minutes and you might start to cry. Good for you and your friends for jumping into the gap, but (yes, here comes unsolicited advice) is this person still living independently? It might be better for all concerned and the public in general to steer him to assisted living.

 

Agreed.

 

Ray, I did a quick google search of this book and could not find any article that refutes or criticizes it. I may have to look into it. Thank you.

 

I was concerned 10 years ago about memory loss. I requested and was tested for Alzheimer disease. The test results did not indicate I had it but I didn't pass it with flying colors either. They said it would serve as a good benchmark should I need to be tested again. What I do remember was I couldn't recall who was the Governor of the state and a few other things most would remember. The test was at least a couple hours long for both short term and long term memory.

 

I looked for the book and was surprised at the price for a paper back. That's unusual.