Mental Health Notes

Have the Risks for Alzheimer’s Increased?

by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes on June 11th, 2007

By 2050, 1 in 85 persons worldwide will have Alzheimer’s disease,” said Ron Brookmeyer of Johns Hopkins University” (New tests may help predict Alzheimer’s: conference).

This isn’t the kind of thing you want to hear five minutes after you’ve poured your first cup of coffee and snuggled up on the couch for your daily dose of news before work. Yet, it’s what I heard on NBC’s Early Today Show, then read about in the above Yahoo! article and then again on the Science Daily article, Alzheimer’s Disease To Quadruple Worldwide By 2050.

This prediction terrifies me. My great-grandmother had Alzheimer’s and dementia. My mother said the first sign was when she cooked up a pot of powdered bleach in the coffee pot. My grandmother (her daughter) also had Alzheimer’s. We first saw it when she called my mom and told her to come to her house, ” [her] daddy wanted to talk to her.” (Paw-Paw had been dead for over a year.) My grandmother’s sister also had dementia; however, we’ve heard her years and years of alcoholism played a role, too.

Is it so far-fetched to believe my mother may have it? And that I may have it? I don’t think so. Especially since the British Journal of Psychiatry reports that “[b]ipolar disorder is associated with increased risk for dementia” (Lithium and risk for Alzheimer’s disease in elderly patients with bipolar disorder).

Of all the mental illnesses in the world, Alzheimer’s scares me the most. Sure, they have treatments out now that can slow it’s progress, but nothing to cure it. The thought of forgetting who I am, who my loved ones are, and even how to make a pot of coffee absolutely terrifies me.

Hey, I need my caffeine.

Humor aside, it makes me think: If I develop Alzheimer’s, will I have chosen a life mate who will stick by me and be willing to take care of me? Will my children and grandchildren still come to see me? Will I be mean and hurtful to my family? And if I end up in a nursing home, will anyone visit? On a regular basis?

Will I even know?

What are your experiences with Alzheimer’s disease? Has someone in your family had it? Are you afraid you’ll develop it?

Here are some articles for further reading:

New tests may help predict Alzheimer’s: conference
Alzheimer’s Disease To Quadruple Worldwide By 2050
Confronting Alzheimer’s
How to safeguard your memory

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POSTED IN: Alzheimer's, Cognitive Disorders, Current Affairs & News, Men, Sites of Interest, Women