Thursday Blog- Dementia (Alzheimer's)

Inside the Dementia Epidemic- A daughter's memoir - Martha Stettinius 

How Dementia (Alzheimer's)affects an individual and how to care for someone with this disease. 

 Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental process caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and makes up 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. At first, symptoms usually develop slowly and then get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks, such as remembering where you put things, showering, eating, driving, etc. Alzheimer's is common in people ages 65 and older, and is not a normal part in aging. It is also the sixth leading cause of death in United States. Most people do not live more than eight years after diagnosis. Unfortunately, there in no current cure for Alzheimer's but there is medications and treatments for different symptoms. Today, research continues to finding better ways to treat this disease and prevent it from happening. 

In the book I am currently reading called, Inside the Dementia Epidemic- a daughter's memoir by Martha Stettinius, Martha's mother, Judy, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Judy's symptoms started to become noticeable when she started loosing her way in the small town she lived in for 25 years. She kept repeatedly missing the road to the doctors (which shes been too many times) and when she went to pull over, her car slipped into a ditch. One morning, she also turned too early at the main road and drove her car five feet down into a ditch. After this point she was diagnosed with vascular dementia (miultiinfarct dementia). As I stated before, over time dementia starts to get worse. Eventually, Judy was in the last stage of "mixed dementia"- a mix of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. Mother's and daughter's are each others greatest gifts. Since Martha loves and adores her mother, she became her mother's caregiver at the age of forty. Martha had to balance the care of children and a parent, and feared that, with care-giving on top of work and family, she would lose herself. She ended up feeling guilty and began to read more about how to help someone with Alzheimer's/dementia, willing to ask for help and appreciate the simple gifts of life. 

Below I found a website that helps guide someone in caring for a person with Alzheimer's. I found it very interesting and helpful. 

Caring for a person with Dementia (Alzheimer's)

When Judy could no longer live by herself, she moved in with Martha and her family. Judy also brought her dog with her. Other then driving into ditches, the first symptom of Alzheimer's I found was when Judy's dog was misbehaving and Martha told her to start disciplining the dog. Judy then proceeded to grab a newspaper, roll it up, and whack the dog with it. Martha did not mean discipline the dog by hitting it, but by putting it in her crate when friends were over. Judy had a hard time understanding and doing the correct things. Another situation that showed how she was greatly impacted by dementia was when she accused Martha and her husband Ben, of stealing her money. Martha was very hurt that her own mother could ever accuse her of stealing money, and she had a hard time understanding why dementia makes the confused person come up with strange, off-base explanations for what they don't understand or can't remember. Martha began to set up programs, conferences, meetings, and play-dates to help her mother keep track of her things and help her with everyday needs while Martha worked. It came to a point where the doctor gave Judy a brief neurological test, and she did not know the date, month, who was president, and could not draw the numbers and hands of a clock. At this point, Martha had no idea what to do. Judy became cruel and judgmental without even knowing it. Martha says, "She's the mother who, despite our battles, has always shared her wisdom, encourages me and loved me in her own way, I no longer feel mad at her. In this moment, I want to help her, give her things, create experiences she will enjoy" (Stettinius, 44). 

I thought a big part of the beginning of this book was mainly focused on how Alzheimer's and dementia is effecting both Martha and her mom. It is a very important part of the book since Alzheimer's is a cruel disease and it is hard to care for someone with it. But the love for family over comes the hard times of understanding why this is happening to a certain individual. As I continue my book I hope to read more about how Martha is helping her mother in a positive way and understanding more about Alzheimer's and dementia. 

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