I have written before about my mother's dementia diagnosis.
Just to help keep things straight, Alzheimer's is a
form of dementia, but not the only kind. Mom does not currently have Alzheimer's,
but she does have it in her family. Dementia can refer to memory loss, but
there are different types of memory and there are cognitive processes that are
not specifically related to memory loss that can still be impaired. (The MCI
book that I am going to list later does the best job of going over those.)
My normal way of trying to come to grips with things
is reading and research, and then when I know as much as possible about something
I can handle it.
I'm afraid my reading has not gone exactly as I
hoped, but I have read various books on the topic, and it makes sense to
collect some of the knowledge here.
The Brain Fog Fix: Reclaim Your Focus,
Memory, and Joy in Just 3 Weeks by Mike Dow
We saw the author on television while we were
waiting for the airport shuttle on our last day of vacation, and decided it was
worth checking out. Although Dow indicates that the remedies recommended here
can help stave off dementia, the target audience is not diagnosed patients but
people who are at normal functioning levels but having moments of poor focus and
occasional memory lapses from stress. This book is about getting your mind and
body to work better through nutrition, exercise, and meditation. Some of the
science may be a little soft, but none of the recommendations are harmful, and
for a lot of people probably would help.
There are two main things I have tried to
incorporate. One is increasing Mom's fish intake. She loves fish, and we all
think it's gross, but of the different types of Omega-3's, fish is an effective
way to get what she needs. We have done better but still have room to improve.
In addition, because it is harder for Mom to focus
and be present, I could see where meditation would be helpful for her. We
haven't really gotten that going yet, but I still intend to.
Meditation: A Practical Study with
Exercises by Adelaide Gardner
This book was short and had "practical" in
the title, which seemed like a good sign, but it wasn't. The author is not tied
to any one tradition, but she mishmashes the different traditions together with
no helpful analysis.
I think in this case the answer will be simple
exercises found on the internet rather than another book.
The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to
Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss in
Later Life by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins
Living with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A
Guide to Maximizing Brain Health and Reducing Risk of Dementia by Nicole D. Anderson, Kelly J. Murphy, and Angela K. Troyer
I need to treat these two together, though there are
differences.
Since my mother was diagnosed she has been going
back for a yearly check-up for monitoring, and this was the first time in three
years that she has lost some ground. The doctor said we could try Aricept, but
I had heard bad things and started doing more online research. A Canadian site
led me to the MCI book, and then when I did a library search for that I found
the 36-Hour book.
Both have a lot of information. The 36-Hour Day
is geared more toward family members who are providing care. It is helpful,
broken down into clear sections and covering all the topics you would expect
and some you wouldn't. Living with focuses more on Mild Cognitive
Impairment (MCI) and is geared for the recently diagnosed or those who are
worried they might have something. It should be helpful for spouses too, but
assumes that the patient can take an active role.
Both books have a lot of things going for them, but
a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I was finding them very depressing.
I could see where Mom was worse; was it because the doctor said it or because
reading about the symptoms made me more aware? Was the reading even helpful if
I was getting so down?
I think ultimately it is helpful. There can be good
reasons to buy books instead of going with libraries and due dates, allowing
you to pace yourself. It can get overwhelming where you really need to take a
break. There are still things I should know.
There are also questions of whether some of the
things I think I should do matter, or if they would have been helpful five
years ago but I waited too long. Honestly, there are still a lot of unknowns.
As it happens, the last time I went to the my
endocrinologist I was reading the MCI book and I was feeling pretty down, but
then in the waiting room there was a Time magazine about the Alzheimer's
pill, and doctors are making progress. If my efforts can't help, someone else's
might. There's some stress though.
There is also a lot of variation in what symptoms
you can see, and what resources you will have, and you just have to take it as
it comes, with kindness and practicality and hope if you can manage it. We
could be a lot worse off, and if thinking about what could happen gets me down,
then I need to bring myself back to now.
Anyway, I haven't really changed my mind about
reading as a strategy, but it doesn't always work as intended. To end on a
lighter note, here's the outlier:
The Psychopath Inside: A
Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain by James Fallon
Although this is about a very different aspect of
the brain, having been focusing on brain function anyway made this resonate more.
The story is interesting. There are two weaknesses, one of which is that your
narrator is a narcissist and perhaps that lack of empathy is what did not cause
him to break down some of the technical information into a more accessible
form.
I read an article on Fallon discovering he had the
brain of a psychopath and exploring that, so meant to read it, but hadn't
gotten to it until Julie was looking for something to read and I suggested it.
Here's the fun part. My sisters had seen a horror
film exhibit at EMP, and asked me about Eli Roth, who makes some twisted movies. My only
knowledge of Roth was randomly stumbling upon an episode of "TMZ"
where Roth and Harvey Levin were competing at Jew or Non-Jew, and they both
seemed very affable (and both with a decent but not perfect knowledge of who in
show business shares their ethnic background).
Roth had Fallon scan his brain to look at it for an
episode of "Curiosity":
And it all makes sense. Roth is twisted, but also a mensch.
Science for the win!
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