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I am going to have to deal with this as my husband has Parkinsons and it is starting to affect him mentally but not too bad yet. About 40% of Parkinsons patients develope full blown dementia, I pray that he is one of the other 60 % that only have mild cognitive impairment.
that said I am 62 and for the last year have been having increased cognitive impairment myself. I have MS, Fibromyalia, severe arthritis, heart disease, and Diabetes. Boy it sure sounds awful when I right it all out like that.
Anyway the future for us does not look very bright and yes I think about it alot.
The first is the person, I would think the worst for them is when the disease is starting, and the memory comes back but has blank spots when they couldn't remember. Wondering where that time and actions went. Wondering when it will happen again but not knowing it has. Losing sense of self a piece at a time. Periods of knowing and periods of not knowing what happened. Almost like having different personalities and one personalitiy doesn't know what the other did.
But when the disease is in full force and the person has lost all self. For them, it's a new world, not knowing what the other world was and who that other person was. This could be a better time mentally for the person, not knowing
Then there is the caregiver and relatives, watching the person slip away. Until the person doesn't remember who anyone of his relatives are. Then that hurt is permament, knowing the person is never coming back mentally. Almost like a new mental person in a old body.
In my life I've seen it. Mother died of stroke. Father heart condition and other ailments. One in 40s and one made it to late 70s. You have to live the time you have left. What's going to happen happens so just deal with it when it happens.
Either way life is short and everyone dies. Kind of depressing when thinking about it but then again consider all the good times you have had up until this moment. Go have some more fun.
Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease (before age 65) almost always has a more rapid progression.
Also, there are a number of people that get what is called Parkinson's Lewy Body Dementia or LBD, but family members and doctors 'think' it is AD. LBD is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses. LBD refers to both Parkinson's disease dementia, and dementia with Lewy Bodies. Surprisingly, it can take more than a year or two for enough symptoms to develop for a doctor to diagnose LBD, and many doctors and other medical professionals still are not familiar with LBD.
The average lifespan for LBD is shorter than other dementia (e.g. Alzheimer's) at 5 to 7 years after onset, and the progress of Dementia with Lewy Bodies is said to be 'relentless'...more so than AD. Note in the links below that some of the symptoms for LBD are similar to AD yet unique to only LBD.
Here are some links about Parkinson's Lewy Body Dementia (LBD):
Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease (before age 65) almost always has a more rapid progression.
Also, there are a number of people that get what is called Parkinson's Lewy Body Dementia or LBD, but family members and doctors 'think' it is AD. LBD is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses. LBD refers to both Parkinson's disease dementia, and dementia with Lewy Bodies. Surprisingly, it can take more than a year or two for enough symptoms to develop for a doctor to diagnose LBD, and many doctors and other medical professionals still are not familiar with LBD.
The average lifespan for LBD is shorter than other dementia (e.g. Alzheimer's) at 5 to 7 years after onset, and the progress of Dementia with Lewy Bodies is said to be 'relentless'...more so than AD. Note in the links below that some of the symptoms for LBD are similar to AD yet unique to only LBD.
Here are some links about Parkinson's Lewy Body Dementia (LBD):
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, BUT LBD is still part of his differential diagnosis. I'm betting he has LBD (and discussed this with his neurologist) so thanks for the links. I think. <sigh>
So the science is fairly convincing...regular exercise, preferably vigorous, may protect against dementia. Anyone who claims to be fearful of Alzheimers or dementia who is NOT exercising regularly is not thinking clearly.
The above post pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. You decide what is the most you can do toward not developing dementia or for that matter anything other ailment, you do it and you just live your life. Worrying is very bad for your health and so is procrastinating about controlling the variables that are in your hands.
Mental decline has always been a huge fear of mine, whether from old age or from an incapacitating accident. I would seriously consider some form of suicide in this case. I think that it is preferable to die with some sense of mental awareness than to turn into an invalid. My grandma is sick with Alzheimer's right now and while she is still physically functional, her mental awareness is extremely arrested. I think that if I were her, I would rather have died before things got as bad as they have now. That being said, I understand that there are a variety of reasons why suicide is not an option for many people.
My father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, BUT LBD is still part of his differential diagnosis. I'm betting he has LBD (and discussed this with his neurologist) so thanks for the links. I think. <sigh>
I have a dear friend that was 'eventually' diagnosed with LBD after 18+ months of evaluations by highly specialized experts in the field. From what I've learned the 'AD like' dementia of LBD patients is most often always diagnosed as simply AD, but when it turns out to [really] be LBD it is still called AD even by so-called experts in the field. And while there are many similarities between AD and LBD there is a distinct difference that 'eventually' (1-2 years of evaluations) defines the disease as LBD. While AD is not something anyone wants - LBD is said to be 'relentless' and much worse than AD...especially for the caregiver.
I do fear altzeimers.
I just saw a study done of people who are in their 90's now.
They left their brains after death to be dissected for altzeimers research.
As an example two people. One with altzeimers and the other without.
The altzeimers one had no plaques and the one without had lots.
It was thought plaques in you brain causes altzeimers.
Now what?
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