ALZHEIMERS OR DEMENTIA?

When I visited my doctor about my memory loss some months ago he told me that I had dementia. Although I am past 70 I still regard myself as young. I am very active and following a small heart operation a couple of years ago I changed my diet, stopped smoking cigars and drinking alcohol and am very well apart from the memory. However,although I was a bit shattered by the news I felt positive after discussions with Dr. Kemp that I could contain the problem and by being better organized I could Cope. The first step was to write everything down. After forgetting if I had done or not done the things on my lists my second step was to tick each entry when done. On a day to day basis I am coping well, although there are challenges sometimes when I don't recognize people or blank out certain things that have happened. So I decided to start this blog as a record of the 'progress' of a dementia sufferer. Being a writer any deterioration in my cognitive abilities will be a problem for me, but I am determined to finish my fourth novel and to go beyond for as long as possible. So I am very positive that I can fight dementia for a long time. However, like most people in my position I started researching dementia, alzheimers and memory loss. Many positive things turned up but then a shock piece of information did cause me concern. This was that alzheimers is not something that follows dementia as I had thought, but is in fact the probable cause. Reading through information on the 'Alzheimers Library' I discovered the following. Dementia is a gradual deterioration of mental functions that affects memory, mood, thinking,concentration and judgement. Dementia is caused by various diseases and conditions that result in damaged brain cells. Eventually brain cells can be destroyed by alzheimers and of course strokes. Dementia is a symptom and alzheimers is the usual cause of dementia. This of course means that I may very well be in the early stages of alzheimers. I took an alzheimers test and passed, but that doesn't necessarily prove that I don't have alzheimers. Statistically there is a 75% chance. The problem is that there is apparently no certain way of telling if a patient is suffering from alzheimers disease until after death. Although the gloomy figures of 70 million people world wide diagnosed with alzheimers of which over 5 million are in the US are a bit dispiriting my own view is that one must remain cheerful and optimistic. Obviously correct eating and healthy lifestyle will delay the negatives of dementia and alzheimers, but prayer and meditation I also finds brings peace. I am tempted to say 'acceptance' of dementia, but I still regard it as the enemy and I will go on fighting! My book progresses slowly. No difficulties particularly in writing apart from sometimes having to strain mentally for certain words. Socially, there are difficulties in recognizing people and even confusing one person with another.The most embarrassing is to confuse one mother's baby with another. After all to an old man like me they all look the same! Here in Paarl it is now late summer and yesterday the temperature reached 41%. Even I went swimming and Boysie and I spent a couple of hours playing ball' in the pool. Poor dog was exhausted afterwards! Even Bobby the parrot and his friend Sandy the cockatille were wilting a bit with the heat, but a garden fan was much appreciated by both as well as grapes from time to time. Keep takig the tablets! David Barnato. Paarl. South Africa.