Two to Start With
January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month.
Alzheimer's is important.
It's of course important to me, not only because I have personal experience with it (and wrote a book).
It's important to all of us, because it's a disease the Baby Boomers can't escape and science hasn't yet figured out.
It might be tempting to think, "Oh, medical research will take care of it," blah blah, "breakthroughs," "potential vaccines," "genetic testing."
But don't think those things and turn away. While medical researchers accumulate knowledge, people continue to get dementia.
And many of the rest of us pretend people with dementia don't exist or "should be locked away," or we think "isn't is sad they aren't themselves," and their spouse/child/grandchild is a saint, and hoo boy aren't we glad it's not us.
Surprise! It is us--of if not us, it will be, or it will be someone we love. Even if dementia doesn't come close to us, people with dementia are still people.
And most of the rest of us are woefully underprepared and uneducated.
Last January, I shared some information about statistics and resources to learn more.
Also, here are two books to start with:
* In Pursuit of Memory: the Fight Against Alzheimer's, by Joseph Jebelli. Excellent, thorough, and eminently readable explanations of the research to date, written by a young physician from the UK. He does a wonderful job of finding the human element in each research stream. We care about the people with dementia he talked with, and those who are doggedly pursuing new information about how dementia works.
* All Things Consoled: A Daughter's Memoir, by Elizabeth Hay. A Giller-nominated writer sharing honest stories about her parents' decline--I mean, what's not to love, it's Elizabeth Hay. On this page, you can see her mother's artwork. Yes, she gives just one perspective on what happened to her family--just one family. And families are different, and dementia is different in each person because that person is unique. Yet there are also similarities, and she's a gentle-yet-brutal companion as she shares her family's stories.
Speaking of sharing, more resources will be here later this month. But these two will help you start.
And you should start. Because it's important.
Alzheimer's is important.
It's of course important to me, not only because I have personal experience with it (and wrote a book).
It's important to all of us, because it's a disease the Baby Boomers can't escape and science hasn't yet figured out.
It might be tempting to think, "Oh, medical research will take care of it," blah blah, "breakthroughs," "potential vaccines," "genetic testing."
But don't think those things and turn away. While medical researchers accumulate knowledge, people continue to get dementia.
And many of the rest of us pretend people with dementia don't exist or "should be locked away," or we think "isn't is sad they aren't themselves," and their spouse/child/grandchild is a saint, and hoo boy aren't we glad it's not us.
Surprise! It is us--of if not us, it will be, or it will be someone we love. Even if dementia doesn't come close to us, people with dementia are still people.
And most of the rest of us are woefully underprepared and uneducated.
Last January, I shared some information about statistics and resources to learn more.
Also, here are two books to start with:
* In Pursuit of Memory: the Fight Against Alzheimer's, by Joseph Jebelli. Excellent, thorough, and eminently readable explanations of the research to date, written by a young physician from the UK. He does a wonderful job of finding the human element in each research stream. We care about the people with dementia he talked with, and those who are doggedly pursuing new information about how dementia works.
* All Things Consoled: A Daughter's Memoir, by Elizabeth Hay. A Giller-nominated writer sharing honest stories about her parents' decline--I mean, what's not to love, it's Elizabeth Hay. On this page, you can see her mother's artwork. Yes, she gives just one perspective on what happened to her family--just one family. And families are different, and dementia is different in each person because that person is unique. Yet there are also similarities, and she's a gentle-yet-brutal companion as she shares her family's stories.
Speaking of sharing, more resources will be here later this month. But these two will help you start.
And you should start. Because it's important.