USE THE BRAIN TO AVOID MEMORY LOSS

This week the evidence of my poor memory became apparent when we were due to go out to an event and I couldn.t find my keys. Welooked everywhere, turning the house upside down to be able to go out. Eventually I retraced my actions on the day and eventually found that the missing items had hidden themselves in my tool chest. As a dementia person I am less aware than my caregiver of any memory, or cognitive ability deterioration. Looking back over the past twelve months I am not aware of very much deterioration and indeed in some areas my cognitive abilities have inproved.However, Julian says that she is aware of some slight deterioration in respect of remembering people and names. Although I am aware of some problem in this area, on the other hand many of my abilities remain constant and my deterioration over all is barely measurable. This tiny loss is the sort of thing that happens to almost everyone as they get older. What I find interesting is that my modest writing abilty remains absolutely constant. I work every morning and the words just flow. Very occasionally I have to focus to remember a word, but this now very rare and I think that the section of my brain involved in writing may have actually improved. Having published 'The Journey', my book of poems and having almost completed a novel; 'The Best Of Days', I have formed the opinion that exercise of the brain is critically important in fighting dementia. I am beginning to believe that it may be possible to completely stop any further deterioration.I am determined that I will never enter 'Alzheimer's World.' This is Julian's busy time of year, as it is a popular time for brides. We both start very early in the morning and I am able to spend my afternoons reading, but Julian works on. Some of her creations are stunning! We are all well, apart from Boysie who has been a little less active than usual. He is thirteen now, so in human terms he is old. His sister Polly, is the more lively now and like all Jack Russels is absolutely full of mischief. Bobby the parrot rarelt talks in front of me, but chatters away to others, especially pretty girls. He has very good taste. The garden has enjoyed some rain this week and the lawns are looking better. Weather is due to go into serious Summer, so everyone is hoping that the electricity network wont crash too often. We don't have air conditioning, but we use lots of fans. David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa. My Dementia Mentor e mail address is dwheater@lantic.net Both caregivers and dementia people are very welcome to contact me for advice based on my own experiences