Dementia
First of all, who among you has ever forgotten something – forgotten where you put your keys, forgotten someone’s name, forgotten an appointment, forgotten where you parked your car in the shopping mall, gone into a room and then can’t remember why you went there? I would expect that everyone’s hand has gone up. We all forget things. When we are young, especially under 20 or so, forgetting things doesn’t seem to affect us too much. So what if we forgot to take out the garbage? Someone will most likely remind us again. No big deal! But as we get older we tend to notice every time we forget something – and we worry that we may have Alzheimer’s disease. Forgetting things, being absentminded, is normal throughout our lives – those are the times which we sometimes refer to as “senior moments.” Dementia is not a natural part of aging. Dementia is caused by specific identifiable diseases.
In January, we showed the movie Still Alice. The story was about the struggles that faced a married woman with three grown children who is diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Today’s Minute for Affirm is a continuation of the topic, but rather than focus specifically on Alzheimer’s disease, I would like to speak about dementia in general.
Dementia, or neurocognitive disorder, is not a specific disease. Dementia is an overall term for a set of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain. Symptoms may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language, severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities. A person with dementia may also experience changes in mood or behaviour.
Many diseases can cause dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia (due to strokes), Lewy Body disease, head trauma, fronto-temporal dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and others I can’t pronounce.
Some treatable conditions can also produce symptoms similar to dementia, for example, reactions to prescription or over the counter medications, dietary or vitamin deficiencies, such as a B12 deficiency, thyroid disease, sleep disorders, depression, stress, infections, and many others. For example, when Dwight’s father was alive, every so often I would notice that he suddenly seemed really confused. We discovered that in his case, the sharp increase in confusion was due to an infection. Therefore, a full medical assessment is needed to determine the cause of the dementia.
But I am not here to go into all the specifics regarding dementia – first of all, there isn’t nearly enough time, and secondly, there are many others who are more qualified to deal with the topic, starting with your family doctor and people at the Alzheimer’s society. I just want to highlight that forgetfulness is a normal part of life and aging, that many illnesses can cause dementia symptoms, that dementia symptoms can be a result of treatable conditions, and that help is available for both the person with dementia and for the caregivers.
So how do we, as members of an Affirming Congregation, support people who have a dementia? Here are a few suggestions from people who have Alzheimer’s disease. These ideas come from a booklet called Memory Problems?3, written by the Early Stage Support Groups in the North/Central Okanagan Region of the Alzheimer Society of B.C.: Here is what people with a dementia have to say:
- Remember, my feelings are intact and get hurt easily.
- I may say something that is real to me but may not be factual. I am not lying, even if the information is not correct. Don’t argue; it won’t solve anything and I will only get more upset.
- If you can tell that I am having trouble, please don’t draw attention to it. Try to carefully help me through it so nobody else will be aware of the problem.
- Sometimes I sense that you think I am faking these problems. What you don’t see is my terrible confusion and my hurt knowing how you feel.
- I don’t mean to frustrate you. I know you get impatient and tired of telling me things three times in a row. Please be patient.
- Ask me what I think or want. Don’t assume that you know.
- Believe I still love you, even if I am having trouble showing it.
- Avoid asking me if I remember someone who is with you. Help me by saying something like ‘This is George – who lived next door to you.”
This doesn’t even scratch the surface as to ways we can be of help to people with a dementia. But there are all kinds of resources available on the topic. The 36-Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins is a guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementias, and Memory Loss. I will leave this book in Central’s library, so anyone who wishes to read it can sign it out. The Alzheimer’s Society web site http://www.alzheimer.ca/en also has all kinds of information.
(Information for this article obtained from the two sources sited above)