This subject is meaningful to me, as I have written about it here on ER a number of times, and as it addresses my personal concerns.
I have been keeping notes and intend to post here as the movement into more memory loss and coping issues increase.
In particular, the point that the article makes about doctors and close friends not noticing change is especially meaningful. Virtually all persons of my acquaintance, who are my age, are very quick to say that they too, experience memory lapses and that it is common. IMHO, it's not that simple, and the problem is progressive. At this point, I am concentrating on trying to track the degree of progression, and the individual types of disfunction... ie. concentration, multitasking problems, names... including "proper names", and the ability to place memory incidents in the framework of time.
Of course the main concern is how rapidly the problems will increase. Will it be months?... No... First indications came more than five years ago. Will it be years?... hopefully. A good friend has been coping for more than ten years. Will it affect motor skills?... Not so far. Is there a way to slow the progress?... Not sure. Trying to do the suggested mental excercises, and keep the social interaction (skills) intact, though this is becoming more difficult as patience tends to be shorter, and social events less interesting.
Fear is probably the first hurdle to overcome but that is giving way to acceptance. I have basically given in to what others seem to want to see... "It's just a sign of normal aging!". It is easier to handle.
I expect that many, if not most, members have dealt with this, with parents or other family members, and have made their own judgements... pretty much from the outside, looking in. In the instances that I have experienced with family members and my current neighbors, it always looked as if they were not aware of their declining abilities, and that dementia didn't become a serious problem until major incidents with driving, or money matters, or other serious issues became obvious.
Of course the underlying worry is that medical diagnosis will be made. That commonly results in restrictions on driving... the ultimate fear, realized. Anyway, the article is interesting in that it takes the subject of dementia out of the realm of medical diagnosis and into personal, practical experience.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/health/looking-for-early-signs-of-dementia.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065&_r=0The man complained of memory problems but seemed perfectly normal. No specialist he visited detected any decline.
“He insisted that things were changing, but he aced all of our tests,” said Rebecca Amariglio, a neuropsychologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. But about seven years later, he began showing symptoms of dementia. Dr. Amariglio now believes he had recognized a cognitive change so subtle “he was the only one who could identify it.”
Patients like this have long been called “the worried well,” said Creighton Phelps, acting chief of the dementias of aging branch of the National Institute on Aging. “People would complain, and we didn’t really think it was very valid to take that into account.”
But now, scientists are finding that some people with such complaints may in fact be detecting early harbingers of Alzheimer’s.
I have been keeping notes and intend to post here as the movement into more memory loss and coping issues increase.
In particular, the point that the article makes about doctors and close friends not noticing change is especially meaningful. Virtually all persons of my acquaintance, who are my age, are very quick to say that they too, experience memory lapses and that it is common. IMHO, it's not that simple, and the problem is progressive. At this point, I am concentrating on trying to track the degree of progression, and the individual types of disfunction... ie. concentration, multitasking problems, names... including "proper names", and the ability to place memory incidents in the framework of time.
Of course the main concern is how rapidly the problems will increase. Will it be months?... No... First indications came more than five years ago. Will it be years?... hopefully. A good friend has been coping for more than ten years. Will it affect motor skills?... Not so far. Is there a way to slow the progress?... Not sure. Trying to do the suggested mental excercises, and keep the social interaction (skills) intact, though this is becoming more difficult as patience tends to be shorter, and social events less interesting.
Fear is probably the first hurdle to overcome but that is giving way to acceptance. I have basically given in to what others seem to want to see... "It's just a sign of normal aging!". It is easier to handle.
I expect that many, if not most, members have dealt with this, with parents or other family members, and have made their own judgements... pretty much from the outside, looking in. In the instances that I have experienced with family members and my current neighbors, it always looked as if they were not aware of their declining abilities, and that dementia didn't become a serious problem until major incidents with driving, or money matters, or other serious issues became obvious.
Of course the underlying worry is that medical diagnosis will be made. That commonly results in restrictions on driving... the ultimate fear, realized. Anyway, the article is interesting in that it takes the subject of dementia out of the realm of medical diagnosis and into personal, practical experience.
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