I’m 68 some of my friends have significant cognitive decline. One, person very close to me, has been diagnosed with alzheimers.
There are things one can do to improve one’s chances and the longevity of one’s faculties, exercise, diet, smoking and probably mental exercises. There is nothing yet that reverses, stops or even reliably slows the progress of this condition. There are some drugs that help some people for as while.
I have offered simple memory techniques to help, but no one takes this up.
Bear in mind that by the time this condition is noticeable a person will have already spent a lot of time just overwhelmed. As one’s cognitive power declines, one’s ability to make quick useful decisions deteriorates and one feel’soverwhelmed by the amount of information and demands expected of you.
So by the time of the diagnosis people are usually feeling desperate, barely holding it all down, basically faking it. They stick to the familiar. Won’t take on airports or big shopping or a pile of paper work. Then comes the diagnosis - which is emotionally devastating.
If I found myself there, I would not be much interested in staving off the inevitable. I would try to take matters into my own hands while I was still able to make a rational decision.
I was a four-year-old when my paternal grandfather was immobilized by a stroke, and before he died of the second stroke, I determined that I would create a mental scrapbook so that if I were paralyzed with a mind then I would have something to look at and if I were hospitalized and mindless then I wouldn’t know. Goodness! I’ve been collecting memories for a long time!
I sent letters on attractive cards and I had flowers delivered for my mother to see and enjoy as she had either good days or sitting and stare days near the end. She always enjoyed art. My brother kept me informed when I was unable to visit. It has been seven years ago, this month.
There are no easy answers. We all just do what we can.
Alzheimer’s and other degenerative dementias are brain diseases with no cure and for which the cause(s) are basically unknown. Being a disease, I don’t think a mnemonist would fare any better than anyone else once the disease takes hold. Nevertheless, it’s believed that a healthy active lifestyle and keeping your brain active may delay the onset.
However, I think it’s important to highlight that such a precipitous decline in memory and intellectual functioning is not the normal course of aging.
I don’t think anyone imagines mnemonics would prevent dementia any more than they would cancer, but when faced with such a diagnosis, the only strategy is to try and mitigate or delay the effects as long as possible. People usually want to go on living their lives as long as possible. People in the very early stages of Alzheimer’s can indeed use these strategies to improve their performance. I have a friend who is trying to stay working as long as possible. Then there will be the issue of how long can one continue living independently? In the end we are all doing the same.
I too take fish oil. Now you might think that I would not remember to take it but my vitamins and minerals and medicines are all in plastic packs with dates and times printed on them by PillPack Pharmacy. Anything you can automate helps.