Just heard this week that a classmate of mine was placed in an Alzheimer's disease Unit. He was touring last year with his wife and cousin with trucks and fifth wheels. Never know when something will slip up and bite you in the butt.
Dmentia
- Thread starter hurleyjd
- Start date
slick4591
Well-known member
Sorry about your friend. My MIL is in a nursing facility and has it. Most of the time she can't tell you if she has eaten 20 minutes afterwards. Still knows faces, but the short term is almost gone.
Ol' 243
Well-known member
Bad, bad disease. The families suffer the most.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
Horrible disease and sorry about your friend. I have to deal with it every day with someone in my family. At the moment I am paying for caregivers from sunup to dark but after some incidents last week it may turn into round the clock care. I think it would be easier on everyone if we put her in a home but her wish is to die in her home so I'll keep paying caregivers as long as I can.
Don't know much about this but I've been told they are finding a link between dementia and sugar. It sounds like people with heavier meat diets who stay in ketosis more often are less apt to suffer from this disease and they are even injecting some sort of fatty substance into the brain to kick the mind into ketosis rather than running on sugar. (probably botched that explanation up but it sounds like there is some hope)
Don't know much about this but I've been told they are finding a link between dementia and sugar. It sounds like people with heavier meat diets who stay in ketosis more often are less apt to suffer from this disease and they are even injecting some sort of fatty substance into the brain to kick the mind into ketosis rather than running on sugar. (probably botched that explanation up but it sounds like there is some hope)
greybeard
Well-known member
Sorry to hear it JD.
It is horrible to watch, as brilliant minds become almost child like. If I had to make a choice, I would rather my physical abilities deteriorate than my mental ones, (not that I'm any kind of mental giant to begin with).
I have a B-I-L that is still physically able to do things as long as someone is standing right there to remind him every few minutes what to do, but he can't keep a thought for more than a few minutes.
And yes, he forgets he has eaten a meal 15 minutes after he's done and will swear he hasn't had a bite to eat yet...and gets pretty upset about it.
I took him and other b-i-l to the sale barn one time and then to eat catfish a few hours later..when we got him back home, he told my sister "I don't know who those guys were, but all they did was just drive around for hours and I haven't had a bite to eat all day". (he had about 3 helpings of all-you-can-eat catfish at the place in Livingston.)
He didn't even remember being at the auction.
It is horrible to watch, as brilliant minds become almost child like. If I had to make a choice, I would rather my physical abilities deteriorate than my mental ones, (not that I'm any kind of mental giant to begin with).
I have a B-I-L that is still physically able to do things as long as someone is standing right there to remind him every few minutes what to do, but he can't keep a thought for more than a few minutes.
And yes, he forgets he has eaten a meal 15 minutes after he's done and will swear he hasn't had a bite to eat yet...and gets pretty upset about it.
I took him and other b-i-l to the sale barn one time and then to eat catfish a few hours later..when we got him back home, he told my sister "I don't know who those guys were, but all they did was just drive around for hours and I haven't had a bite to eat all day". (he had about 3 helpings of all-you-can-eat catfish at the place in Livingston.)
He didn't even remember being at the auction.
Friends of ours from califnorna were out to turkey hunt a couple of years ago. Within a week he couldn;t remember how to get to where he needed to go to hunt. He had made it fine on his own when they got here and that was from him remembering the lay of the land from 2 years before. When they got back home it took a couple of months but they figured out he is now diabetic. As soon as that was under control he was back to just like he had been before. Having seen what it can be like to be that far out of touch really scared the crap out of me. I hope if it happens with me I can remember how to load a gun and where to point it.
slick4591
Well-known member
What we've noticed with MIL is that she's more alert early in the morning and gets progressively worse as the day goes on. Asked the doc about it and he called it "Sundowners."
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
That's for sure ,,,a lot of folks take their health for granted,,I did..gothurleyjd":3elzk3he said:
smacked to reality...God bless him
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
theyve been linking diet drinks to dementia....Jogeephus":dk0j69hw said:
Very sorry to hear that.
My grandmother had dementia before she past this year. Her's was drawn out over a couple years. One doctor early on described it best when he said she will have a bad episode, then recover and be better, then have a bad episode then recover and be better. Every time the bad episodes will get longer and the good times will get shorter until finally there are no good time. At that point she will have a bad episode and never recover.
He was right. It was very hard on our family.
My grandmother had dementia before she past this year. Her's was drawn out over a couple years. One doctor early on described it best when he said she will have a bad episode, then recover and be better, then have a bad episode then recover and be better. Every time the bad episodes will get longer and the good times will get shorter until finally there are no good time. At that point she will have a bad episode and never recover.
He was right. It was very hard on our family.
Caustic Burno
Well-known member
ALACOWMAN":4jsmonce said:
Well my grandmother and dad both died of Alzheimer's I don't think they every drank one in their life.
If I remember correctly back then they were claiming it was linked to aluminum powder in deodorant.
I don't think they have a clue myself .
Jogeephus
Well-known member
My son was talking about it not to long ago and he said they think it has something to do with sugar. More specifically, the brain's inability to break the sugar down for energy. He said the brain needs energy to function and the body can get the energy the easiest from the use of sugar. From what I understood, they found in dementia patients the brain's ability to use sugar shuts down for some reason. This happens over time and goes unnoticed till the brain is damaged then its to late and the damage is irreversible. He says the human body works best when its in the ketosis mode where the body breaks down meat and fats for energy yet we are told we should eat foods according to the food pyramid which are all high in sugar. He says if you eat more meat and fats and stay clear of the carbs and sugar you will be healthier. In other words, eat more beef but pass on the potatoes and bread.
Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
Jogeephus":1hayup7j said:
Similar to the Atkins diet.
Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
We are, currently, dealing with Dementia in our family, my mother. :( I have to say, Dementia $ucks! It is definitely hard on the family. Fortunately, right now, most of the time Mom is happy. She's still in her own home. Dementia is a terrible thing. :(
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
http://www.waff.com/story/35204747/do-d ... alth-risks This is where I heard that
Bright Raven
Well-known member
Jogeephus":8nd9zu1j said:
Good post. Our diets are too high in starches and sugars (carbohydrates). Doctors are moving in that direction. You get a longer, cleaner burn on the fats and proteins. It does not have to be red meat. Fish protein has the benefit of good fats that provide the good high density lipoproteins. Fish is excellent as a breakfast food. If I am going to have a long morning of work, I try to eat catfish, salmon or tilapia.
This sounds exactly where we are with our mother, we had to make her stop driving a couple months ago she wasn't happy about that, and I agree this is not going to be good.Workinonit Farm":39jawyw9 said:
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
Poor old lady friend here.is in the early stages of it...will tell the same story 3 or 4 times in a roll...just minutes apart. You want to tell her. But you just act enthused with each time.
Jogeephus
Well-known member
Workinonit Farm":2b74dv67 said:
Yes, pretty much so. My wife had some blood work done and here cholesterol was high and some other things were not good but rather than putting her on statins and other medicine he told her to cut the carbs and sugars out and eat proteins. In three weeks her cholesterol had dropped 50 points and some other bad numbers dropped significantly. She's lost some weight and she says her mind seems sharper which is all in line with what he said would happen. What was puzzling to me is I would have thought her cholesterol would have increased with the higher meat and fat consumption but he said it doesn't work that way unless you throw things off balance with sugars.
