Jan 14, 2002 01:57 PM
2692 Views
(Updated Jan 14, 2002 08:51 PM)
My Mother and Grandmother died of Alzheimer's Disease. If you do not know what this Disease is it takes your loved one away from you. It is a very sad thing to go through.
The first stage of the Disease is repeating the same thing over and over. The second stage is anger. They are angry with themselves for not remembering and angry with you because you can't help them.
It is called'48 hour' Disease because the people who are in the middle stages can stay awake for 48 hours. They often walk away from home and get lost as they do not remember who they are or where they live.
The next stage is when they finally forget who you are. They are alive but do not remember anything. It is very hard when your Mother does not remember your name. This is the easies stage for them but the most difficult for you.
I am an only Child and my Children were living in other Cities. If I did not have my Husband Ivor to help me to take care of her I would have gone out of my mind.
The Disease can take from 5-10 years until your loved one passes away. That is a very long time to be the only Caregiver. Today there are many support systems to assist you. At the time I was going through this there was none.
The final stage is when they hallucinate and see their loved ones who are waiting on the other side for them to join them. Jewish People call Heaven the'World To Come'. They stop eating and then they stop drinking. The literally starve themselves to death.
I do not know if it is a genetic disease but because two female members in my Family had it I am sure I am in line. There is tests that you can take to find our if you carry the gene. I did ask my Doctor to test me. He refused because he feels that would only make me give up on enjoying whatever time I have left in my life.
This summer I read an article in the Victoria Newspaper that said there was a new book out about Alzheimer's Disease. It is called'Nuns Offer Clues to Alzheimer's and Aging' that was written by Pam Belluck. I bought the book for someone in my Family but I did skim through it before I gave it to her.
I am going to quote a few passages that I wrote down as these made me feel better, (in case I begin to show symptoms of the Disease). If you are going through this Disease with a loved one or are in the same position I am I hope the quote will give you hope.
'Her book is about a Fifteen-year study of elderly Catholic Nuns at Convents around America. The New York Times said, 'It is considered to be one of most innovative efforts to answer questions about who gets Alzheimer's disease and why.
Dr. David A. Snowdon, (an epidemiologist), and his Colleagues conducted their study by watching 678 nuns age. Their research showed that folic acid may help keep Alzheimer's disease in check. There are a small, barely perceptible number of strokes that may trigger some dementia, (this happened in my family).
I found it most interesting that they say that early language ability may be linked to lower risk of Alzheimer's. This has been report and published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
They found that Nuns who express more positive emotions live a lot longer than those expressing fewer positive emotions. This study is considered to be very important because their information comes from several stages in their subjects' lives and began when they were too young to show any signs of Alzheimer's.'
Please note I do not change worlds or spelling in a quote.
I was so excited that I emailed a copy of what I just quoted to everyone in my Family.
I read recently in the National Post that there is a new pill, (being tested), that may stop this Disease. It will not cure anyone but will stop it from progressing any further than it has.
I hope this gives you some hope.
©LL
