Dementia (1 Viewer)

bringbackrattles · Nov 22, 2017

My sister works as a nurse on a dementia ward. She has said how young some patients are coming in, with many only in their fifties.
On my round only this week I've got 2 customers suffering early dementia symptoms, one is only in his forties. My sister says the reasons behind this terrible disease/illness is complex and experts aren't entirely sure the causes. David Cassidy and Malcolm Young both were suffering with dementia, and have just passed away.
But it must have been around years ago ?

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
My sister works as a nurse on a dementia ward. She has said how young some patients are coming in, with many only in their fifties.
On my round only this week I've got 2 customers suffering early dementia symptoms, one is only in his forties. My sister says the reasons behind this terrible disease/illness is complex and experts aren't entirely sure the causes. David Cassidy and Malcolm Young both were suffering with dementia, and have just passed away.
But it must have been around years ago ?

Tis worrying. Convinced now that my mum has dementia, though we haven't had it officially confirmed. She is 87 and her memory deterioration in just a few months is absolutely staggering.

4 or 5 months ago she was quite normal. We suddenly noticed her stumbling and getting stuck though, so I took her to the doctors on Tuesday.

They did a simple question and answer test and she did so, so badly on it.

What time is it?

Around 3 (correct)

What year is it?

2017 (correct)

What month is it?

10 seconds of puzzled and blank looks and then she said the 3rd.

Asked her then to count backwards from 20 and she couldn't get past 20 and then to count the months backwards from December and she couldn't get past December.

At the start he also gave her a very simple name and address to remember and she couldn't remember any of it at all, name or address.

So sad.

Gazolba · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
My sister works as a nurse on a dementia ward. She has said how young some patients are coming in, with many only in their fifties.
On my round only this week I've got 2 customers suffering early dementia symptoms, one is only in his forties. My sister says the reasons behind this terrible disease/illness is complex and experts aren't entirely sure the causes. David Cassidy and Malcolm Young both were suffering with dementia, and have just passed away.
But it must have been around years ago ?

Didn't David Cassidy destroy himself with drink? Alcohol poisons the brain as well as the body so I'm sure that didn't help.
I'd expect diseases like cancer and dementia to have a myriad of contributing factors like genetics, diet, personality, and lifestyle.
There are even theories that mobile phone use emits low-level radiation that might damage the brain.
Years ago they just said old people were going 'senile'. It was considered an inevitable part of aging. It's only pretty recently there has been more focus on it.

Skyblueweeman · Nov 22, 2017

Dementia is an awful condition. I’ve not had personal experience of it but researched it quite a bit when looking for a charity to support on my recent LEJOG ride. Read up on the condition and it made me think what it must be like for loved ones not to recognise you.

Glad I chose Dementia UK and was happy to go through hell for 9 days to help raise money for research into it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

Skyblueweeman said:
Dementia is an awful condition. I’ve not had personal experience of it but researched it quite a bit when looking for a charity to support on my recent LEJOG ride. Read up on the condition and it made me think what it must be like for loved ones not to recognise you.

Glad I chose Dementia UK and was happy to go through hell for 9 days to help raise money for research into it.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well done, weeman.

It's worrying for me, because I have noticed myself now forgetting lots of stuff and also getting completely stuck on words.

Might just be because of my mum I am suddenly analysing things a lot more though.

clint van damme · Nov 22, 2017

Gazolba said:
Didn't David Cassidy destroy himself with drink? Alcohol poisons the brain as well as the body so I'm sure that didn't help.
I'd expect diseases like cancer and dementia to have a myriad of contributing factors like genetics, diet, personality, and lifestyle.
There are even theories that mobile phone use emits low-level radiation that might damage the brain.
Years ago they just said old people were going 'senile'. It was considered an inevitable part of aging. It's only pretty recently there has been more focus on it.

People living a lot longer as well.
Both my in laws have/had Alzheimers so I've seen it up close hand. My family say it's a terrible disease, (which it is), but I think you would say that about any disease that you watch a loved one suffering with close up.

I heard an interesting interview with someone on the radio who was saying in the 70s we knew about cancer but we didn't know a lot about there different types or the causes or symptoms. They were saying we are now with dementia/Alzheimers where we were with cancer in the 70s.

Deleted member 5849 · Nov 22, 2017

Skyblueweeman said:
it made me think what it must be like for loved ones not to recognise you.

tbh with my Granddad, that was the good bit. Once he was lost in his own little world he was happy.

It was the time before, when he had moments of lucidity, and realised he was losing it that was hardest. You'd go from seeing an irrational man who was a stranger to you, to seeing a scared little old man who you couldn't help... and who knew you couldn't help him as he knew what was coming.

bringbackrattles · Nov 22, 2017

Otis said:
Tis worrying. Convinced now that my mum has dementia, though we haven't had it officially confirmed. She is 87 and her memory deterioration in just a few months is absolutely staggering.

4 or 5 months ago she was quite normal. We suddenly noticed her stumbling and getting stuck though, so I took her to the doctors on Tuesday.

They did a simple question and answer test and she did so, so badly on it.

What time is it?

Around 3 (correct)

What year is it?

2017 (correct)

What month is it?

10 seconds of puzzled and blank looks and then she said the 3rd.

Asked her then to count backwards from 20 and she couldn't get past 20 and then to count the months backwards from December and she couldn't get past December.

At the start he also gave her a very simple name and address to remember and she couldn't remember any of it at all, name or address.

So sad.

87 is a good age though. So a touch of memory loss I imagine is fairly normal ? Me and my sister were talking about our mum who was really fit,didn't drink and just had the occasional cigarette.
She had an aneurysm aged 62 a blood clot in the brain, she held on for 13 days but had another in hospital which caused her death. My sister is off sick at the moment, as she kept fainting etc at work. Her doctor is concerned when he heard about our mother. Her job doesn't help !

clint van damme · Nov 22, 2017

Deleted member 5849 said:
tbh with my Granddad, that was the good bit. Once he was lost in his own little world he was happy.

It was the time before, when he had moments of lucidity, and realised he was losing it that was hardest. You'd go from seeing an irrational man who was a stranger to you, to seeing a scared little old man who you couldn't help... and who knew you couldn't help him as he knew what was coming.

I won't like that post because a like seems inappropriate but it's a good post and I fully recognise some of the sort of things you're describing.

clint van damme · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
87 is a good age though. So a touch of memory loss I imagine is fairly normal ? Me and my sister were talking about our mum who was really fit,didn't drink and just had the occasional cigarette.
She had an aneurysm aged 62 a blood clot in the brain, she held on for 13 days but had another in hospital which caused her death. My sister is off sick at the moment, as she kept fainting etc at work. Her doctor is concerned when he heard about our mother. Her job doesn't help !

hope she's OK B. My mates mum died quite young of an aneurysm. Probably a similar age to yours, hit him hard.

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
87 is a good age though. So a touch of memory loss I imagine is fairly normal ? Me and my sister were talking about our mum who was really fit,didn't drink and just had the occasional cigarette.
She had an aneurysm aged 62 a blood clot in the brain, she held on for 13 days but had another in hospital which caused her death. My sister is off sick at the moment, as she kept fainting etc at work. Her doctor is concerned when he heard about our mother. Her job doesn't help !

Yep, a good age, but to see that sudden change is so upsetting still.

She can get stuck on a word for 20 seconds and you can see the frustration in her face.

Just in the last 4 weeks she has put teabags in the kettle and cooked poached eggs without putting water in the pan, so completely burnt and ruined the pan. Worry is she could set fire to something etc.

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

clint van damme said:
hope she's OK B. My mates mum died quite young of an aneurysm. Probably a similar age to yours, hit him hard.

Worst thing is my dad is old generation and he can't cook, clean, wash, iron etc. Totally dependent on my mum, but he refuses help and I know he would point blank refuse to live with us if anything ever happened to my mum.

Think if my mum goes my dad will shortly follow.

bringbackrattles · Nov 22, 2017

Otis said:
Yep, a good age, but to see that sudden change is so upsetting still.

She can get stuck on a word for 20 seconds and you can see the frustration in her face.

Just in the last 4 weeks she has out teabags in the kettle and cooked poached eggs without putting water in the pan, so completely burnt and ruined the pan. Worry is she could set fire to something etc.

Does she live with you ?

clint van damme · Nov 22, 2017

Otis said:
Worst thing is my dad is old generation and he can't cook, clean, wash, iron etc. Totally dependent on my mum, but he refuses help and I know he would point blank refuse to live with us if anything ever happened to my mum.

Think if my mum goes my dad will shortly follow.

Unfortunately it's an all too familiar story mate.

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
Does she live with you ?

No. My mum and dad live your way, Potters Green. They are lovely, but so set in their ways and refuse all help.

Joe King · Nov 22, 2017

I'm knockin' on, (but not yet ancient - 64½ ain't ancient!), but lately, I'm forgetting a lot of things. Simple stuff, like I might think about a particular subject and when I go to research it on say, Google, I sit there staring at my screen because I can't remember for the life of me what it was I wanted to research. I'm now finding that I have to write everything down in note form and leave it on my keyboard to remind me e.g. "Collect prescription" or "Phone brother". There's lots of little things and yet I feel great mentally. I still have my sense of humour, I can hold a conversation well and I can use my PC brilliantly. It's just these bloody lapses of memory.

bringbackrattles · Nov 22, 2017

clint van damme said:
hope she's OK B. My mates mum died quite young of an aneurysm. Probably a similar age to yours, hit him hard.

Yes I am worried about my sister. A typical nurse loves helping others but not so good on herself.

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

Houchens Head said:
I'm knockin' on, (but not yet ancient - 64½ ain't ancient!), but lately, I'm forgetting a lot of things. Simple stuff, like I might think about a particular subject and when I go to research it on say, Google, I sit there staring at my screen because I can't remember for the life of me what it was I wanted to research. I'm now finding that I have to write everything down in note form and leave it on my keyboard to remind me e.g. "Collect prescription" or "Phone brother". There's lots of little things and yet I feel great mentally. I still have my sense of humour, I can hold a conversation well and I can use my PC brilliantly. It's just these bloody lapses of memory.

Yeah, I think we all get them, but some things I do think find more worrying.

I am mad on American Football. Absolutely love it and this last Superbowl was considered one of the best ever and the biggest turnaround ever and it was also my second favourite team playing, the New England Patriots, but at the start of this season (September) I couldn't remember a single thing about that game. Not a single thing.

bringbackrattles · Nov 22, 2017

Houchens Head said:
I'm knockin' on, (but not yet ancient - 64½ ain't ancient!), but lately, I'm forgetting a lot of things. Simple stuff, like I might think about a particular subject and when I go to research it on say, Google, I sit there staring at my screen because I can't remember for the life of me what it was I wanted to research. I'm now finding that I have to write everything down in note form and leave it on my keyboard to remind me e.g. "Collect prescription" or "Phone brother". There's lots of little things and yet I feel great mentally. I still have my sense of humour, I can hold a conversation well and I can use my PC brilliantly. It's just these bloody lapses of memory.

It's because you're in mourning for David Cassidy !

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
It's because you're in mourning for David Cassidy !

I think Houch is more a Butch man myself.

Joe King · Nov 22, 2017

I guess the next thing I want to say is because I'm now retired, but many times when I wake in the morning, I literally have no idea what day it is. It could be a Monday, Friday, week-end, any bloody day. I sometimes have to go into the living room, switch the TV on to Sky News just to see what day it is!

Otis · Nov 22, 2017

Houchens Head said:
I guess the next thing I want to say is because I'm now retired, but many times when I wake in the morning, I literally have no idea what day it is. It could be a Monday, Friday, week-end, any bloody day. I sometimes have to go into the living room, switch the TV on to Sky News just to see what day it is!

Yeah, I'm like that with the planet.

Joe King · Nov 22, 2017

bringbackrattles said:
It's because you're in mourning for David Cassidy !

Talking of which.............. I went for a walk through a graveyard the other day and saw a bloke stooped down behind a gravestone. I walked by and said "Morning!". He said "Nah, just havin' a shit!"

Captain Dart · Nov 22, 2017

God this is a bloody depressing thread.

Deleted member 5849 · Nov 22, 2017

Captain Dart said:
God this is a bloody depressing thread.

Well given the subject heading, it wasn't likely to be Tim Vine's joke book!

olderskyblue · Nov 22, 2017

Deleted member 5849 said:
tbh with my Granddad, that was the good bit. Once he was lost in his own little world he was happy.

It was the time before, when he had moments of lucidity, and realised he was losing it that was hardest. You'd go from seeing an irrational man who was a stranger to you, to seeing a scared little old man who you couldn't help... and who knew you couldn't help him as he knew what was coming.

My ma-in-law had dementia and was frightened for all the 6 years she had it. In her lucid moments in the first few years of it, she wanted to die, always asking me to bring tablets in so she could overdose. It was only the last 2 or 3 years of it that she didn't know who we were. She died a year ago, and although it might seem strange to say, it was actually a blessing.

She was always a very proud and hard working woman, and hated the fact that she had to be looked after.

One kinda funny story. She actually escaped from the first dementia home she was in. Managed to break a lock on the window and climb out. No-one there noticed until the police brought her back. It was late at night, and they went by as she was walking down a road towards Henley green in her nightie. They took a guess that she was from the home and brought her back (she managed to get about 3/4 mile away from it though...) She was 82 at the time... I called her the cooler king after that. :emoji_smile:

Gazolba · Nov 23, 2017

Captain Dart said:
God this is a bloody depressing thread.

Why would you read a thread entitled Dementia and expect it to make you happy?

Sky_Blue_Daz · Nov 23, 2017

Horrible disease, I used to work in a dementia unit and it could break your heart to see residents not recognising their wives,husbands or family.

Otis · Nov 23, 2017

Sky_Blue_Daz said:
Horrible disease, I used to work in a dementia unit and it could break your heart to see residents not recognising their wives,husbands or family.

It's no way to see out the last years of your life.

Don't want to get in a religious debate here, but it's stuff like this that makes me believe there is no God.

What a horrible way to go. Cancer in physical anguish and dementia in mental anguish. Just don't understand how anyone or thing could preside over that and allow it to happen.

Hope cures can be found real soon.

Sky_Blue_Daz · Nov 23, 2017

There was a resident who came into the unit and he was a family friend. I remembered him as a hard working family man who liked a pint and a smoke and was great company to be around.
It was awful to see him come in as a shell of a man he even forgot that he smoked, he would sit in the chair and every now and again smoke an imaginary cigarette

The "old" him would make an appearance every now and then, I got talking to his his wife a while after I left the unit and she was convinced that his problem was retiring although he worked up until he was 70 he was in the unit by the time he was 73

Grendel · Nov 23, 2017

Women get the disease at a higher rate than men and long term the use of HRT alone will reduce numbers but this is a consequence of aging population.

RB1992 · Nov 23, 2017

My prayers are with all the victims of this awful disease

bringbackrattles · Nov 23, 2017

Grendel said:
Women get the disease at a higher rate than men and long term the use of HRT alone will reduce numbers but this is a consequence of aging population.

But my sister who has worked as a dementia nurse for a few years says it is becoming a much younger illness/disease.

jimmyhillsfanclub · Nov 23, 2017

My dad finally died from Alzheimers last October.......and as others have said, it was a relief when he passed.

He was struck with an early on-set variety that was particularly aggressive........diagnosed at 62.....anger, violence and double incontinence quickly followed....he was a vegetable rotting in a wheelchair by the time he was 66....he would have been fucking fuming about it.....

I've mentioned on here before that if I didn't have a family of my own to look after, I would have smothered him while he slept to finally end his torture.......but I didn't & his (and our) suffering continued until last October......

Its a horrible disease......IMHO, worse than fatal physical disease & illness as the patient & family never get to say a proper goodbye........

I still feel guilty now that I didn't help him die earlier in his decline while he was still capable of helping himself to do so.....

To end on a positive note, they are making massive strides with drugs that arrest the dramatic declines the likes of dad suffered, so there is some hope.

As far as it hitting younger folks, I have done some reading which appears to link high sugar diets with dementia & Alzheimers.....may account for the rise among younger sufferers.

clint van damme · Nov 23, 2017

jimmyhillsfanclub said:
My dad finally died from Alzheimers last October.......and as others have said, it was a relief when he passed.

He was struck with an early on-set variety that was particularly aggressive........diagnosed at 62.....anger, violence and double incontinence quickly followed....he was a vegetable rotting in a wheelchair by the time he was 66....he would have been fucking fuming about it.....

I've mentioned on here before that if I didn't have a family of my own to look after, I would have smothered him while he slept to finally end his torture.......but I didn't & his (and our) suffering continued until last October......

Its a horrible disease......IMHO, worse than fatal physical disease & illness as the patient & family never get to say a proper goodbye........

I still feel guilty now that I didn't help him die earlier in his decline while he was still capable of helping himself to do so.....

To end on a positive note, they are making massive strides with drugs that arrest the dramatic declines the likes of dad suffered, so there is some hope.

As far as it hitting younger folks, I have done some reading which appears to link high sugar diets with dementia & Alzheimers.....may account for the rise among younger sufferers.

"I still feel guilty now that I didn't help him die earlier in his decline while he was still capable of helping himself to do so....."

that would have put a whole new world of pain onto your missus and kids. You did the right thing, I'm sure your Dad wouldn't have wanted you and your family to go through the stress and punishment that would have been the consequence of helping him die.

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