Paracelsus
11-June-2007, 11:29 PM
For all of you my age or older, this article probably strikes a painful and worrisome chord or two. This article made me think of my beloved grandma who was a victim of this disease. This post was written in memory of her.
My grandma died of AD at the age of 87, after having the disease for about 15 years (or thereabouts). Before the disease, my grandma was the sweetest, most sensible woman I knew--deeply religious and spiritual, but tolerant and kind with a deep core of generosity and common sense. My grandma was kind, but AD is cruel. It takes from its victims gradually, diminishing and killing what they are, bit by bit.
My grandma's AD manifested subtly at first as changes in her personality (increased religiousity, impatience, intolerance). I remember her calling me up one time when I was in grad school and telling me that I was going to hell for believing in evolution (she had always been proud of my scientific accomplishments before and would never have said anything so rude even if she hadn't been). As the disease progressed (but before her diagnosis), she began to spark random quarrels with strangers and would lose her way in the town she had lived in for 10 years. She became very absent-minded and tactless also. She became hostile and paranoid and began misplacing her things, hiding them because she thought people were stealing from her then forgetting where she hid them. The worst was when she realized that people weren't stealing from her; that was the point when she realized she was losing her mind. The knowledge that she was losing her mind hit her in the worst possible way, as one could imagine. I remember calling her right after she had been diagnosed; I can't even describe how sad she sounded. She sounded as if all of the life had been sucked out of her, like she had completely given up.
She took Aricept for a while, and it helped; but, after a while, the medicine could no longer ameliorate the symptoms of the progressive brain damage she was suffering. She got a day nurse to help her. Then, when she got so bad the nurse could no longer deal with her, she was put into a home. The final phone call I had with her took place right before she was placed in the home. To put it bluntly, she sounded like a retarded 4-year-old. She could barely remember who I was (and I had been her fave grandchild) and still thought I was studying physics (I had switched to tox 4 years previously). I stayed on the phone with her for 10 minutes, then said goodbye. I couldn't stand to talk any longer.
She was 84 years old.
Once in the home, she became so demented that she no longer recognized anyone--not even my dad...her son. Eventually, she lost all power to move, speak, or even eat; all she could do was moan. She died at 87, shrivelled up from extreme weight loss, mute, senseless, and as alone as a person could be: without even her own mind to keep her company.
Her funeral was large, but she would not have recognized a single person who attended. She died a long time before her body did.
My dad is on Aricept now. He is 67; he won't admit to having AD, but why else would he be taking Aricept?? He also shows some of the symptoms, in spite of the meds. I am saying nothing--for now.
For everybody on this board, I urge you to read the Newsweek article. If you are like me and have parents that are 60+ or if you are 60+, I urge screening for AD. There are meds out there that can ameliorate the symptoms of AD and improve quality of life, at least for a little while.
For all of us (including people my age or younger), I urge people to check their risk factors for AD (http://alzheimers.about.com/od/diagnosisissues/a/alz_risk_factor.htm). One can't do anything about one's heredity, but there are lifestyle changes than can make a huge impact also.
My grandma died of AD at the age of 87, after having the disease for about 15 years (or thereabouts). Before the disease, my grandma was the sweetest, most sensible woman I knew--deeply religious and spiritual, but tolerant and kind with a deep core of generosity and common sense. My grandma was kind, but AD is cruel. It takes from its victims gradually, diminishing and killing what they are, bit by bit.
My grandma's AD manifested subtly at first as changes in her personality (increased religiousity, impatience, intolerance). I remember her calling me up one time when I was in grad school and telling me that I was going to hell for believing in evolution (she had always been proud of my scientific accomplishments before and would never have said anything so rude even if she hadn't been). As the disease progressed (but before her diagnosis), she began to spark random quarrels with strangers and would lose her way in the town she had lived in for 10 years. She became very absent-minded and tactless also. She became hostile and paranoid and began misplacing her things, hiding them because she thought people were stealing from her then forgetting where she hid them. The worst was when she realized that people weren't stealing from her; that was the point when she realized she was losing her mind. The knowledge that she was losing her mind hit her in the worst possible way, as one could imagine. I remember calling her right after she had been diagnosed; I can't even describe how sad she sounded. She sounded as if all of the life had been sucked out of her, like she had completely given up.
She took Aricept for a while, and it helped; but, after a while, the medicine could no longer ameliorate the symptoms of the progressive brain damage she was suffering. She got a day nurse to help her. Then, when she got so bad the nurse could no longer deal with her, she was put into a home. The final phone call I had with her took place right before she was placed in the home. To put it bluntly, she sounded like a retarded 4-year-old. She could barely remember who I was (and I had been her fave grandchild) and still thought I was studying physics (I had switched to tox 4 years previously). I stayed on the phone with her for 10 minutes, then said goodbye. I couldn't stand to talk any longer.
She was 84 years old.
Once in the home, she became so demented that she no longer recognized anyone--not even my dad...her son. Eventually, she lost all power to move, speak, or even eat; all she could do was moan. She died at 87, shrivelled up from extreme weight loss, mute, senseless, and as alone as a person could be: without even her own mind to keep her company.
Her funeral was large, but she would not have recognized a single person who attended. She died a long time before her body did.
My dad is on Aricept now. He is 67; he won't admit to having AD, but why else would he be taking Aricept?? He also shows some of the symptoms, in spite of the meds. I am saying nothing--for now.
For everybody on this board, I urge you to read the Newsweek article. If you are like me and have parents that are 60+ or if you are 60+, I urge screening for AD. There are meds out there that can ameliorate the symptoms of AD and improve quality of life, at least for a little while.
For all of us (including people my age or younger), I urge people to check their risk factors for AD (http://alzheimers.about.com/od/diagnosisissues/a/alz_risk_factor.htm). One can't do anything about one's heredity, but there are lifestyle changes than can make a huge impact also.