How is dementia diagnosed? Yes, there are brain scans and other tests that can show evidence of damage that could cause dementia. When my wife had her seizure five years ago, a brain scan was done. A a neurologist whom I trusted, observed no irregularities with her brain. The doctor’s best explanation for the seizure was emotional stress. Dementia was not mentioned. MY wife was in good health, 55 years old, and had no family history of dementia. Yet, within months, changes in her behavior became evident. For many, this is how dementia is diagnosed.
When a person’s mental ability begins to diminish, when memory begins to falter, when daily activities such as preparing a meal become difficult, dementia, although hard to accept, becomes obvious. Unfortunately, by the time such behavior becomes apparent, the disease has significantly progressed.
Further research has led me to several conclusions. Dementia is a complicated disease with multiple symptoms and multiple possible causes. Millions of people all over the world suffer from dementia and the number grows as life expectancy increases. Finally, despite years of research, countless hours and dollars, spent in search of a cure for dementia there is not a single drug available that can successfully treat this disease.
Does this mean that a diagnosis of dementia is hopeless? No, new research demonstrates that for those in the early stages of the disease, there are treatments that can arrest and possibly reverse some forms of dementia. However, when dementia has progressed beyond a certain point, there is no turning it back, at least for now.
This is where I find myself with my wife’s condition. She now exhibits all the symptoms of Stage 2 Alzheimer’s, putting her in the middle of the disease’s typical progression. After recent consultations with several doctors, I don’t think it is realistic to believe that my wife’s condition is going to improve. Instead of continuing a search for a miracle cure that does not realistically exist, I’ve chosen to focus on doing things that maximize our daily happiness. Briefly, this means keeping our life as simple as possible, prioritizing activities that bring us health and joy, and being grateful for our many blessings. No, I’m not giving up on some future development that might successfully treat her dementia, rather I’m choosing to make the most of what we have now.
A walk in the sunshine along the beach, listening to birdsongs, stopping to smile at children playing, smelling the first fragrant flowers of Spring feels like a much better way to live our life together than wasting time hoping another brain scan will somehow change the course of our life.
The internet is full of information about dementia, it’s causes and treatments. My taste for rational scientific thinking led me to Dr. Dale Bredesen’s book, “The End of Alzheimer’s.” Bredsen observes that dementia, in particular Alzheimer’s, is a complex disease. He offers a protocol that evaluates a number of proven factors that might be contributing to a person’s dementia. Scientific tests have demonstrated that for some people, treatment of these factors can improve the dementia condition. There is no miracle cure here, rather a thorough and practical approach to understanding and possibly treating Alzheimer’s.
Here’s the link to “The end of alzheimer’s, the First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline.”
Wishing you a road to happiness.
Tio Stib
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