Not everyone with memory problems has Alzheimer's.
I've found out there's also something ... also non-curable at this time ... called binswangers disease which attacks the white matter in the brain.
I really wish there was a word other than dementia describing these types of problems. It always seems to me that dementia is yelling and causing a disturbance but I guess there are stages when that happens.
I wish we could just go from being regular people with some odd problems without having things happen that are hurtful to our families.
But .......
The study of it all is endless and we are but on the cusp of understanding any of it (the brain was basically the life study of Oliver Sacks and his writings and essays about differing dementias are absolutely fascinating).
So basically just saying, don't get tripped up on semantics. DO understand that anyone suffering the affliction of "cognitive decline" is as individual as a fingerprint, just as he or she was before suffering this decline.
Your thinking, in fact, is very much along the lines of Oliver Sacks, who believed that those afflicted have VERY functioning brains, they just don't function as our OWN brains do.
Hugs out to you on the journey. Stick around the Forum and you will see we ALL are as individual as our thumbprints and we ALL are as unique, and we ALL are striving to do the best we can for those we care about/for. OK, I am off to look up Binswanger's disease.
the reason that i titled my “question” in the manner that i did is because there may be a name for a certain disease but
it may not make any difference what its called because it can't be cured just because theres a name.
the labeling is not hurtful ... its just another disease to me with no answer. Something that nothing can be done about.
i know not everyone goes thru being hurtful verbally or saying nasty things to family members or hitting etc but ive visited nursing homes and have read messages here frequently of that happening and feel sorry that people with no problems previously and who have been loving and insightful with their families lose their ability to continue in that manner.
im older ... almost 80 ... and grew up with the term dementia meaning people who were crazy and yelled and undressed in
public, didnt bathe, pawed at people and did things that frightened other people So unfortunately the word dementia to me is not a positive word. I just wish there is another word to call certain diseases and that i didnt have to face the possibility of a personality change and losing my mental capacity.
nothing is going to change those feelings and i was just voicing my opinion that it a matter of what we may face in life.
I understand that when you have a negative connotation attached to a word or phrase it can be uncomfortable to hear the word.
Some use the term Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to describe the early stages of dementia.
I was introduced to ALZ in my late teens. My Mum's best friend had early onset ALZ. It was terrible to watch a vibrant, active, witty, talented woman become someone else. Someone who thought her husband was a stranger in the house to rape her. He took early retirement to look after her. Within a couple years he died of stomach cancer and she lived another 20 years in a nursing home far away from friends, but near family.
I hope that you are one of the 75% who do not get MCI. Here in Canada the stats are that by age 85 25% of the population is suffering to some degree.
A good friend's sister has lesions on her brain due to asbestos exposure. It caused dementia symptoms in her that had for years been treated as mental illness as she was 'too young' to have dementia.
My step dad had dementia, not determined what type, perhaps early ALZ. He died of cancer before it could progress. He could not really follow conversations any more, would say inappropriate things. But when Mum asked me to clean up the computer, I saw the true signs of how his brain was broker. He has been an accountant, was working in a volunteer capacity until a few months before his death. The computer files were a mess. He obviously could not longer figure out how to save a file, update information etc. I have to go through 6 months of his bookkeeping to get to a point where things balanced, then move forward correcting the mistakes.
So I guess we were the lucky ones. Step Dad died before he went too far down the rabbit hole of dementia.
I have read that once a person's dementia is sufficiently progressed, they all have the same characteristics, such as loss of mobility, non-verbal, incontinent, etc. Has anyone else read that before?
i like the mci term as it is what im getting at ... the confusion and sadness that a person with impairment must feel.
i dont have any noticeable impairment yet ... in fact i have a very stressful job with continual little details ... but i do have some white matter loss.
ive had a baseline mri so next year i’ll be able to find out how much loss but it all comes back to my original thought ... if something cant be cured what difference does it make.
In the meantime i’ll enjoy living and working and my weekends off.
It does make a difference!
1) Having an accurate diagnosis can determine treatments that can manage symptoms.
2) Not all dementias are Alzheimer's.
3) You are correct, not everyone with memory problems has Alzheimer's.
4) It makes a difference how you are coping or feeling about it.
Can you say what has hurt you, or a family member? Maybe talking it out will help.
I am not sure exactly, what you mean:
"I wish we could just go from being regular people with some odd problems without having things happen that are hurtful to our families".
Is the labeling hurtful to you?