I've been watching a show on PBS about alzheimer's disease. Wondering if anyone knows anyone with the disease. My grandma has it and it has really been hard on my grandpa, as well as the rest of the family. She's in here early 70's and has had it for about 6 years now. It's a terrible thing to see happen. I'm glad to see that research is being done as much as it is. Ten years ago I don't remember of even hearing about alzheimers. Increased awareness is always good.

 

MIchelle worked in a special home as a Senior Care Giver with the Salvation Army until she got injured.

I used to go over and spend time with them playing games,talking,watching TV ,making puzzles, entertained, etc.
I slowly close to 20 people slowly fade away.
It is a difficult thing to go through this and wouldn't will this disease on anyone.

Some doctor's say that Aluminium cooking pots & pans may have contributed to it.

I could believe that.

 

My dad was diagnosed with early onset of Alz's when he was 59. He was fine for a number of years and still lived at home and took care of himself.

Then one morning he fell and had to be taken to the hospital. That was in June of 2001. From that point on, Alz took a terrible toll on my dad. He rapidly faded away physically and lost alot of weight and his mind was never the same. He passed away in 2001 and he was only 65.

I don't wish that on anyone.

 

Yes, I know someone. A neighbor. She doesn't know who she is, where she is, what her name is, or rather anything.

Her mind is ___gone____.

It was triggered by an accident in her big black Caddy, and she wasn't wearing a seat belt.


For some reason, I always believed it would affect me at that age.

 

My mother had it. It was pretty awful. She passed away a year ago but I feel like I actually lost my mom about 3 years ago. She went from a vibrant, sharp witted lady to a shell of a person in just over 2 years.

 

my mom works in a nursing home, and even though she doesn't work with soecial care patients, she does see a lot of them. I might have to let her tell you about them if you come visit me justin!

 

We have had a few cases in our family over the years.This is a very sad, heartbreaking disease.

 

If I get it, just shoot me. Which makes me think of something. Hey, I still think! Should one of us meet an early demise; how will we let our friends here at FTE know? This kind of bugs me.

 

My grandmother had Lou Gehrig's disease and that is similar to Alz. It is undescribably devistating to the family, she went from a life loving, family oriented women to a women who could only eat baby food because she couldnt remember how to chew her own food. It lasted for almost 5 years before it finally killed her.

It was most devistating to my grandfather who was never the same after that. I don't wish anything even close to either one of those desieses on even my worste enemy...

 

My mother in law has it. The bad thing is that when you start noticing little things at first- like starting a sentence and not finishing it-- you just attribute it to old age. Its generally when they have a major episode that it finally sinks in that there is something major wrong. The doctors made a diagnosis of dementia- we were told that the only way to get a 100% diagnosis of alzheimer is post-mortem with an autopsy- but they are 99% sure it is alzheimer. The bad thing is that my company had just started offering long-term care insurance as part of its benefit package, and I went to sign up for this to help with the costs, but I found out that once a diagnosis of dementia has been made, you are automatically disqualified from any type of insurance. If I had signed up just 2 weeks earlier she would have had some coverage. She was a very poor woman to begin with, and she ended up having to destitute herself to get nursing care. The family did everything they could to help, but the cost of this is horrendous. At some point they will need constant 24 hour care. For the last two years she has been locked in a fetal position with a feeding tube- her muscles have all atrophied, she had to have a colostomy and is seems like she gets urinary tract infections all the time. She can't move very much, talk, or do anything. She doesn't recognize anyone-- she just lays there. I know the feeling of an earlier poster when they said that you lose your loved one long before they die. This is so true. My wife lost her mother almost three years ago, but this shell that was once her is still alive. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

 

My very ancient momma has it. She is in her 90's, cannot walk anymore, and doesn't really know what is happening. I call her often, and she usually doesn't know who I am. Sometimes I am her dead brother, or her even more dead uncle.. I was her doctor once - she would not believe I was her son that day at all - she kept calling me doctor.. It is heartbreaking to have a close one with a disease which has been researched by many facilities, and a good realization of the disease is accepted. I will not write the whole reasons, but will condense them somewhat. This is not conjecture..

Alzheimer's is a condition of mental acuity, where the cognitive function is severely impaired. Caused by proteinous build up of enzyme and hormones in the brain, the disease advances, taking the victim to a hell of their own, where occasional periods of lucidity interrupt total confusion.
Causes of the disease are closely linked to hyperinsulinism the state of being insulin resistant, caused by excessively high amounts of LP(a) and Homocysteine in the blood supply. These collect in the brain, making web like structures in the brain, that limit nutrients to the cells. That is Alzheimer's syndrome.

Causes are very simple - Aluminum DOES harm the body, and is definitely linked to the onset of Alzheimer's, but more frightening is the link between that, and obesity. Processed carbohydrates, the very things that cause obesity, diabetes, and hyperinsulinism accelerate the production of homocysteine, which in turn binds to LP(a) and starts to ensnare the brain. The link is well proven, by such experts as Dr Kimer McCully, Prof. Linus Pauling, and Dr Robert Atkins. That processed carbohydrate substance will cause all of the diseases that are killing people by the hundreds of thousands each year is more than tragic - it is positively criminal - why does not the FDA do something about it? Alzheimer's is becoming epidemic, Diabetes is becoming epidemic, Obesity is epidemic, and heart disease from those illnesses is epidemic. Acuity is the one thing we neeeeeeeeeeed to have a worthwhile life, and the foods eaten by the majority of Americans are ensuring that acuity is the one thing we do not have.

So, GET RID of all your aluminum cookware, utensils, and containers. Modify your diet, to EXCLUDE the processed carbohydrates, Avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats, and drink masses of water.. Seriously, my friends, if you do not do that, you have an 80% chance of developing one of the illnesses I listed above, between the ages of 45 and death. Any one of those illnesses, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, Obesity and Hyperinsulinism will rob you of many years life.

Habits that exacerbate the conditions are: Smoking - the most likely to cause rapid deterioration, Drinking, the second in rank, and Sedentary lifestyle, combined with any of the above illnesses will almost guarantee the onset of Heart disease, and Alzheimer's.

As I said, guys, this is not conjecture - Research it, read what the names I mentioned above said about it, and then wonder why the American Heart Association, The Diabetes Association, and the Alzheimer's Association do not suggest that diet changes can prevent, and often reverse the diseases they claim to be trying to eradicate.

Theo

 

My dad had dementia for about 7 years before he died. It's gotta be one of the most cruel diseases for anyone to have. As it progresses, the person knows that something is wrong; there eventually comes a point though where they don't know that something is wrong. Anything is fair game, from refusing to eat/drink (which is usually the beginning of the end, thank God), behavioral issues (saying weird things for example), possibly hitting those around them, etc etc.

There are no right answers to dealing with these problems; you must evaluate the options, choose/implement and hope for the better. If it doesn't work you try something different. I spent incredible amounts of time reading, surfing the web, laying awake for half the night wondering, taking long drives alone just to think, and talking to people trying to get answers. There are no answers for all aspects of this condition.

There came a point in time for me where I said to myself "there is a better place for Dad to be". There was no longer any quality of life. It was painful, yet such a releif when I got a call that he had passed. I said to myself in these exact words "finally, now the suffering is over".

 

We moved my in - laws in with us two years ago. My wife's father had terminal emphysema (deceased now) and her mother was in the first stage of Alzeimer's. I watched as my mom in law went from a vibrant useful human, to a child again. My wife was having a horrible time coping with the change of her mother right before her eyes. Her mother would be talking normal, then 2 minutes later , would look at my wife, take at slap at her and scream " I hate you". That is just the beginning, it worsened daily, so my wife had to get outside help. People have a hard time realizing the effect it has on a child (even when the child is 56 yrs old) seeing their parent in this condition, and having to deal with their condition daily. The mom in law is now in a nursing home and hanging on, to what, only God knows. A horrible, horrible way to spent the last years of ones life,

 

Greg, I can relate to what happened to you. The person with the disease basically "grows down"; just the opposite of a child. I considered moving Dad in with me, but EVERYONE from friends to family STRONGLY advised me not to do so. It was firmly believed by almost all of my buddies that eventually I would shoot Dad, then shoot myself. They felt I would go crazy and put Dad outta his misery and put myself outta going to prison. The family, from being older than me, was able to illustrate through example, what had happened to others and what was in store for me.

I'd have to say from firsthand experience that it's harder on the family than it is for the person with the condition. I think it's because they have no clue what is going on, and cannot remember what happened 1 minute ago. To them, everything is just fine; to those around them it's a living hell.

 

my fathers mother had it for the last 2 years of her life, and I felt that I had lost my grandma when she got it, but she was pretty happy up until the end. my mothers mother was sharp up until the end, and I watched her carry on for months unable to talk cause she was on a respirator, that was TRULY HARD TO WATCH.
in my experience alzheimers was almost merciful in a way.

getting old sucks, but my dad keeps telling me it beats the alternative