God bless Mayim Bialik for shining a light on this incredibly important subject. As I have seen people deal with. Alzheimer's and dementia for over 50 years now, I think several things are very important.
1. There are not only different types of dementia with Alzheimer's being the most prevalent, there are different types of Alzheimer's. I saw my dear sweet multi phd uncle come down with it at about age 72 and 5 years later he had lost control of life sustaining functions and passed. They called his early onset which he explained to me when he was first diagnosed had nothing to do with when he showed signs but that it is known to be aggressive and he would not live long. I made it a point to call him regularly and he progressed quickly and life to him was soon mostly about enjoying fine wine and telling anyone who would listen how much he loved his wife and ask if you had talked to any of his 5 sons. I very clearly got the impression that he, a former USC football player, had taken to chasing his still attractive wife around the house! I guess we could call that the good and the bad. I still find it impossible to believe that such a rock of a man is gone.
A completely different example would be my Mom, his older sister's case. She has a type of Alzheimer's that has barely progressed since diagnosed about 12-14 years ago. She refers to it as having a bad memory, so bad she will ask you the same question 5 minutes later. Other than her bad memory she is capable, lives on her own and has a full fun happy life. She has benefitted from having 3 daughters and 1 son and we pretty much fight for the opportunity to do anything we can to enrich her life which includes obtaining the finest herbs for Alzheimer's out of Japan, Juice+ supplements, lively daily conversations to keep her current and engaged. We also were privy to the insights of the doctor who heads up the Harvard Healthy Brain Institute. He said that the 2 things he had found that made the biggest difference in slowing down dementia is 1. Let people talk. 5hey need to tell their stories and holding them in their head with no outlet makes it worse. 2. He said that doing anything daily that involves you using your body in a different way and thinking in a different way keeps your brain striving to create new neuro junctions and fights off the progression of dementia! My sisters and I take Mom on trips, engage her daily asking her opinion on matters of all kind. We challenge her to do different things physically in such a subtle way she has no idea we are doing it. Yesterday her phone was across the room so she could not see her "Skylight" digital frame one of my sisters got for her. I had just sent some pictures to her and I explained it was important to me to know they had gotten to her snd that they are of her great grand children. She walked over, bent over, picked up the frame and stood there leaning on one of her chairs, found and pushed the button to accept the new pictures and then stood there and explained to me what she was seeing and we joyously discussed her youngest great grans. Not that she had not done any of that before but not in that order and definitely not while perching over the back of one of her big chairs. That used a whole new combination and you could tell she was electrified by the experienced!
Most importantly though is my Mom herself. My Mom who has accomplished extraordinary things in her life while still being your normal nice lady next door has always taken control and responsibility for her own brain and the effects her thoughts have on her life. She was not only 4H's top tomato grower in Missouri in 1958, she also was a awarded a full ride scholorship to Northwestern at that same time. So she is a bright lady and has spent a lot of time herself studying the brain and how it works and taught her kids the importance of being responsible for our own thoughts. She is also a Biblical scholar, as was my Dad, and I think that helps her too, a strong foundation and base in anything that keeps you grounded and you can refer back to. For me it is probably backgammon which I have played as if it were my sport since I was about 7-8. It is the most complicated simple game ever and called the game of kings and generals for a reason! That said, just playing backgammon is still using the same neurotransmitters over and over and does not really meet the good doctor's description using different muscles that require engaging different thought processes. It is just something I can hang my hat on, find myself in because of having strong, long roots in that game. I am Biblical about BG! LOL!
My Mom, in addition to Bible study for us kids 2-3 times a week, also actually had me studying Ernest Holmes "The Science of the Mind", "The Silvan Mind Control Method", "How to Win Friends and Influence People, and "Think and Grow Rich." She also had me enrolled in community college summer school starting at the age of 13 which meant I was a college junior by the time high school graduation came around. So I say this just to point out that there are a lot of things we can do before mental impairment stars to slow it as well as different ways it develops. I don't want us buying into the stereotypes I keep seeing of what dementia looks like and how it develops. We can in many ways outsmart this.
The story in "As They Made Us" reflects one experience of Alzheimer's. It is just 1 possibility.
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