David Cassidy

[19Sandy]

Has dementia and is only 66.

[Teacher Terry]

That is sad. A good friend of mine got it in her 50's and by 64 was in a home. It is a horrible disease.

[sweetana3]

A friend's husband was diagnosed with early onset at 55 and is now having to go into a memory care unit. He is not 60 yet. The symptoms developed very fast.

[Tybee]

I hate hearing about people this young with dementia, mostly because I guess I'm scared I will get it, as my mom has it, and I'm 60 now. So I am always calculating, how many more good years do I have?

[iris lilies]

Last week I made a logic error and told DH "well, there we go, Alzheimer's logic!" and in addition to that I made two errors of timing that are a bit worrisome.

But whatever, I cant do any thing about it, and as I remind DH, he will be in for a fun ride on the Alzheimer's train.

[CathyA]

I think it's important to not confuse some of the developments with growing older with Alzheimer's. DH and I both are forgetting tons of words. I've always been told by the doc that people who have Alzheimer's don't appreciate that they are losing their memory or making mistakes. I hope that's true, 'cause all my memory losses bug the hell out of me.

[JaneV2.0]

There are ways to mitigate the likelihood of getting Alzheimer's. Genes aren't always destiny. (I've posted this before, but it bears repeating.)

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/memory-loss-associated-with-alzheimers-reversed-for-first-time

[Teacher Terry]

IL: men aren't as good as women as dealing with a chronic major illness. My friend's parents had been married 50 years when the Mom got it. He put her in a home so fast and divorced her. Then a 30 yo nurses aid made a play for him and he married her. The doctor's said that my friend got it so young because her cancer came back 8x's so she had chemo that many times. She would have died without the chemo because she had stage 4 cancer and lived 20 years. I read that what you are describing is normal. what is not is something like putting keys in the refrigerator.

[Mary B.]

I think it's important to not confuse some of the developments with growing older with Alzheimer's. DH and I both are forgetting tons of words. I've always been told by the doc that people who have Alzheimer's don't appreciate that they are losing their memory or making mistakes. I hope that's true, 'cause all my memory losses bug the hell out of me.

Drives me nuts too, the forgetting words!

I feel better about it since a doctor friend told me it's called "nominal aphasia" (inability to remember nouns) and that it's really common and a sign of aging rather than necessarily a sign of anything dire.

[19Sandy]

Dementia isn't always about memory loss because it can affect people in other ways too.

When I have my seasonal affective disorder symptoms or feel grumpy for several days or have more of my sleep disorder problems, it makes me wonder if I am in the early stages of it.

Terry, that is deplorable that a man would leave his sick wife after 50 years of marriage, - makes me wonder if he also has dementia.

[CathyA]

My mother had dementia........but she had shock treatments when she was about 30.....so I wonder about that. But she developed it around late 70's........so who's to say it wasn't "just" old age. Not everyone's brain ages well.
I put her in a local nursing home, in their "memory care" aka dementia unit. Some days she was more lucid than others. This place was supposed to be decent, but it concerned me when the woman in charge of the unit kept verbalizing her lack of understanding why my mother acted one way one day, and another way the next. Duh!

[Teacher Terry]

Sandy, no in fact he is still alive and well at 97 and still married to the 2nd wife. The studies show that men often will leave a spouse when a problem develops where as women are much more loyal. An example is that 9 out of 10 men leave an alcoholic wife but only one out of 10 women do.

[iris lilies]

Sandy, no in fact he is still alive and well at 97 and still married to the 2nd wife. The studies show that men often will leave a spouse when a problem develops where as women are much more loyal. An example is that 9 out of 10 men leave an alcoholic wife but only one out of 10 women do.
I have told DH to plop me in the nursing home and visit once a week. He is the sort to take care of feeble spouses, not so much due to loving and caring feelings, but because he doesnt like change. Moving me out of the house would be a BIG change

[pinkytoe]

Not dementia, but one of my good friends back in TX who seemed by all outward appearances to be very healthy, had a massive ruptured brain aneurysm a few months ago. She and her husband had just moved into their retirement place after downsizing. She is back to square one - learning to walk, talk, eat etc as if she never knew how and her husband is by her side but obviously not expecting this in their early "golden" years (60s). I know she is still in there but how to communicate with her now? She is in a nursing home for the time being. Good reminder not to take our days for granted. Enjoy them while you can.

[CathyA]

Not dementia, but one of my good friends back in TX who seemed by all outward appearances to be very healthy, had a massive ruptured brain aneurysm a few months ago. She and her husband had just moved into their retirement place after downsizing. She is back to square one - learning to walk, talk, eat etc as if she never knew how and her husband is by her side but obviously not expecting this in their early "golden" years (60s). I know she is still in there but how to communicate with her now? She is in a nursing home for the time being. Good reminder not to take our days for granted. Enjoy them while you can.

😢