Erasing Parts of Your Brain

Every time I can't remember a name or a word, I wonder if it is the beginning of Alzheimer's. It seems that the more I try to remember something the more it eludes me. Sometimes, after a few minutes or hours, I will recall the word or the name. Many times I go through the whole alphabet to see if one of the letters will jog my memory. Other times, I look it up on the Internet and save myself the frustration of trying to remember something. I often wonder if having the Internet handy doesn't make my brain lazy knowing I don't have to remember, all I have to do is hit a few keys! When I mention my fears to others I am told, "Hey, the same thing happens to me. The older we get the more we forget!" And then I don't feel so bad.

Still Alice with Julieanne Moore (2015 Academy Award best actress winner) is a movie that shows the progression of Alzheimer's, even though this is happening to a young woman and it is a very rare form of the disease, I could see how she slowly began to forget things. She has a loving family that helps her along and a husband (Alec Baldwin) who loves her.The movie, which I thought would be very sad and depressing, isn't. It's mostly about a family dealing with Alice and how she deals with the beginning of Alzheimer's.

The disease is a scary one, almost as bad as cancer. I remember a neighbor who at a young age developed symptoms and would wander off into the neighborhood. Sometimes she was found miles away from her home. She was put in a facility where she became aggressive, violent and angry until her husband had her moved to another home and her medication changed. She lived for about fifteen years before she died, somewhere in her early 60's.

I've read where working crossword puzzles, reading, a good diet and exercise helps keep the disease away but once you have it, I have never heard of anyone getting better.

"No matter who you are, 

what you've accomplished, 

what your financial situation 

is -- when you're dealing 

with a parent with Alzheimer's,

you yourself feel helpless. 

The parent can't work, 

can't live alone, and is totally

dependent, like a toddler. As the 

disease unfolds, you don't know 

what to expect."

Maria Shriver