I recently had a very difficult day. For many people the following story is going to hit home. Several weeks ago my father called me in distress. He had just called 911 to have my mother taken to the emergency room in Santa Rosa. My mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, and when I arrived at the emergency room she did not know me.
As with most people who have Alzheimer’s disease, the process for my mother has been slow. However, this most recent episode involved an infection, so she was particularly impacted by memory loss. It was my first experience of my mom not knowing who I am.
Alzheimer’s is a fatal and progressive disease first described in 1906 by German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer. The simplest way to describe Alzheimer’s is that it is a degenerative deterioration of the brain. In short, the brain shrinks. The medical term for this is atrophy.
The frustration for Alzheimer’s in both the patient and for the family is that the process is insidious. The changes in memory, personality and health are slow. There are good days, and there are bad days. At first the good days outnumber the bad, but eventually the struggle to remember is lost.
My heart was broken when my mother looked at me and said, “I don’t know what is going on. Can I get better from this?” My grief was heavy because I didn’t know what to say to her. Helplessness is not a condition I am comfortable with. So I am writing this article to you, dear reader, with the intention of providing help. Sooner or later, we will all know someone with Alzheimer’s.
Science is working hard to understand Alzheimer’s and what triggers it. New York University researcher Dr. James Galvin has several strategies to help prevent its development. Like other degenerative diseases, there are risk factors we can avoid and actions we can take to improve our brains.
For instance, heart healthy choices also tend to be brain healthy choices. According to Dr. Galvin, “Despite all the advances in medications and diagnostics, sometimes the best thing we can tell a patient is to stay mentally active, socially engaged, physically fit and eat a healthy diet.”
Another recommendation is to keep tabs on other diseases. Major risk factors for Alzheimer’s include diseases that can occur simultaneously such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, obesity and diabetes. It is wise therefore to aggressively treat these other disease conditions and not ignore them so as to reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s.
Know the warning signs
There are several key symptoms to alert people when to seek treatment. According to the Alzheimer’s Association the following is a list of the top warning signs. Confusion with time, person, and place, memory loss that interferes and disrupts activities of daily living, misplacing and losing things with the difficulty of retracing steps, and trouble with spatial relationships and understanding visual images.
Lastly, difficulties completing familiar tasks such as paying the bills, or operating the television are other signs to look out for. To counter these problems and reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s it is recommended to be creative through reading, writing, puzzles, and learning a new language.
Galvin’s most important recommendation is to treat Alzheimer’s early. The medications available work best at the earliest possible stages. Fear and denial will only accelerate the process. Starting medications at the earliest possible time can help reduce the burden of symptoms.
I am the proud and happy father of an 11-year-old boy named Luke. Luke is a miracle boy to my wife and me because we struggled with infertility. Every single day without exception I tell Luke, “I love you all day long.” On the day my mother did not recognize me, there was only one thing to say to her. I told her, “Mom, I love you all day long.”
Matthew McQuaid, DPM is a board certified foot surgeon practicing in Lakeport. He has a particular interest in Mind/Body medicine and its impact on healing. He is an award winning author and teacher. For more information call 263-3727 and visit www.drmcquaid.com.
