The idea is to die young as late as possible.
Ashley Montagu, attributed
WHAT CAN WE do? This is hard to answer, but not impossible. There is advice worth heeding, based on the clinical experience of doctors and nurses. First: early diagnosis is critical. If you are having memory problems that worry you, problems that feel like more than normal ageing, you must book an appointment to see your doctor. It truly is a case of the earlier, the better: our methods of detection are rapidly advancing. And while it can be difficult advising someone to seek medical attention for a mental health problem (again I speak from experience: persuading my mother to see a doctor about anything is like trying to persuade Kim Jong-un to see a therapist), we must remind people that it is a serious disease.
Second, but no less important: remain active and social for as long as possible. Having family and friends around can have an immensely positive effect on a patient’s mood and sense of well-being. In her instructive book Dementia: The One-Stop Guide, dementia nurse June Andrews suggests that families should also ‘start a private blog, where everyone has their own responsibility to log in and find out for themselves what is going on’, and points out that ‘friends are not a luxury; they are a necessity for maintaining your health and sanity’. Keeping diaries and calendars and notes will also help manage symptoms. So too, perhaps, will eating well, drinking less alcohol, exercising more, and staying mentally active. A healthy lifestyle might not prevent Alzheimer’s, but it may slow it down. On a lighter note, stay positive. Patients often want to keep a sense of humour about what’s happening to them, which was certainly true with many of the patients I met.
I am fully persuaded that we will defeat Alzheimer’s in our lifetime. In the meantime, perhaps the best advice I can give is to keep looking to the future like the people in this book are–with high spirits, fiery determination and irrepressible optimism.
Some of the best organisations for families, carers and patients:
Tel: 0800 678 1174
Email: contact@ageuk.org.uk
Website: www.ageuk.org.uk
Tel: +1 800 272 3900
Email: info@alz.org
Website: www.alz.org
Tel: +1 800 438 4380
Email: adear@nia.nih.gov
Website: www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers
Tel: +44 20 7981 0880
Email: info@alz.co.uk
Website: www.alz.co.uk
Tel: +352 29 79 70
Email: info@alzheimer-europe.org
Website: www.alzheimer-europe.org
Tel: +1 866 232 8484
Email: info@alzfdn.org
Website: www.alzfdn.org
Email: contact@alzforum.org
Website: www.alzforum.org
Tel: 0300 111 5555
Email: enquiries@alzheimersresearchuk.org
Website: www.alzheimersresearchuk.org
Tel: 0300 222 1122
Email: enquiries@alzheimers.org.uk
Website: www.alzheimers.org.uk
Tel: +1 202 454 3970
Email: info@caregiveraction.org
Website: www.caregiveraction.org
Tel: +1 800 829 2734
Email: info@caregiver.com
Website: www.caregiver.com
Tel: 020 7378 4999
Email: info@carersuk.org
Website: www.carersuk.org
Tel: 0800 888 6678
Email: info@dementiauk.org
Website: www.dementiauk.org
Tel: +1 415 434 3388
Email: info@caregiver.org
Website: www.caregiver.org
Tel: 020 7697 1520
Website: www.ncpc.org.uk
Website: www.nhs.uk
Tel: 0870 739 5780
Email: customerservices@publicguardian.gsi.gov.uk
Website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-public-guardian
Tel: +1 202 962 4000
Website: www.sfn.org