"Doctor, I can't seem to remember names as well as I used to"
"I find myself going to the refrigerator and not knowing what I wanted"
"I misplace my keys all the time."
In many cases----these concerns just require a little gentle reassurance. The fact is that memory varies day by day. Some days our neurons just seem to fire a little faster. As an example, think back to when you were in school. If you were sleep deprived, you didn't function as well the next day. If you imbibed a little too much on alcohol, the next day was a blur.
The fact is that there are many things that interfere with memory including depression, sleep, medications, and other health care issues. Just because you are a little forgetful doesn't necessarily mean you have Alzheimer's---you may just as likely have sleep apnea or depressive symptoms.
So when should you be concerned that you have dementia. An instructor once told me that Dementia is not about misplacing your keys; it is about misplacing your keys and finding them in the refrigerator.
Personally, I am always much more concerned by memory complaints raised by family members or friends. When they are self-initiated, they often are a result of other things going on. Regardless, all memory concerns should be addressed with your doctor. That's it for tonight.
Tomorrow---I'll talk a little about how we diagnose dementia.
Once, years ago, I put my hairbrush in the freezer. There were extenuating circumstances--someone had rung the doorbell and I was in a hurry--but still! However, at twenty-something, it was not Alzheimer's. The telltale signs of my Mom's A.D. were reclusiveness and inability to perform tasks that require many steps, such as following a recipe or preparing a meal. She is now at late stage 5 and has yet to put her hairbrush in the freezer! Thank you so much for your inspirational stories about Oscar.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the book, it was probably the most inspirational book I have read since Rabbi Harold Kushner's "When Bad Things Happen To Good People".
ReplyDeleteI did get a little scared by it and I'm glad for your post above also. In the book I seem to remember a statement where you said that there is no such thing as normal "age-related" memory loss. This frightened me immensely as I am a 56 year old man with no history of Alzheimer's in my family and a crack memory that when I was younger was almost photographic for some things like telephone numbers and mathematical formulas. In the past few years though I have found that I am increasingly forgetful of things like where I have left my car keys and where I have parked my car when I go to a movie or shopping mall. I'm still pretty good with numbers, although certainly nowhere near what I was when I was 19 years old. As you note above, I'd love to ask you the question that everybody else asks you, Am I developing dementia?, but I guess you have already answered it. Thank you again for the wonderful book.
Just a follow-up to my last post (which showed up under sschippe, while this one is under sidinsd). One other thing that you mentioned in the book and has since been proven to be an old-wives tale, is that cats sleep 2/3 of a day. Research has been done that when their owners are away, cats actually spend more time interacting with their surroundings and fellow pets than they do sleeping. I guess I liked the book so much because I am a cat lover and currently have three cats. The phenomenon of cats being able to tell when a family member is in distress is certainly borne out by the cats I have had the pleasure to live with. We used to have a cat named "Sylvie" who was extremely skittish almost to the point of being vicious. She never wanted affection or interaction with anyone. But when I was sick in bed she would always come up and cuddle with me, it was so out of character for her that it can only be explained by my illness.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished your book, and I cannot tell you how touched I am, or how much it helped me both professionally and personnally. I am a social worker on a dementia unit, and see everyday the effects dementia has on families, what it takes away from them, but also what it can give families if they are open to it. I have also been a family member and have watched a person I loved very much (who was also a M.D.) slowly go into places I sometimes could not find him, and other times I was able to learn about him and find out about places and times that I was never able to know about before. I just had to be willing to go with him on the journey.
ReplyDeleteI am also struggling with a recent diagnosis of arthritis and as a read your words I bagan to look at my pain and the changes I am living with in a diffrent way. I cannot thank you enof for this book, for so many reasons it has touched me.