Discussions on
'' More about Alzheimer ''
Peter
Cheung and Others
Metis: Peter Wu is not the only one!
It's been like this for me for the last few years. The most embarrassing was
when I couldn't remember a student's name and had to be reminded by the
rest of the class! Look at it like this,now
that we have more time, just treat it as extra exercise if you've to go
backward and forward fetching things. I've stopped worrying about my forgetfulness,
just keep eating healthily, exercise, doing Suduko
and computer games to keep my brain and mind alert and enjoy life.
Peter '
s colleague, I guess, probably intentionally got the anniversary datesmixed up because he felt it's time to have a new wife!
If
you had Alzheimer's, you'd
1. keep repeating the same
questions and statements many times within a day or even the hour
2.
misplace things more than once in a day and then suspect others of stealing
them when cannot find them
3. don't
know the date of the week or even the time
4. not
be able to find your way home
5. not
be able to handle money, calculate changes and pay bills
6. have
to be reminded to take medication
7. not
be able to do lots of housework like cooking & cleaning etc
8. have
lost all interest of doing your hobbies
9.
mixed up names of family members and even have trouble
10.
recognizing familar people, e.g my mother-in-law called her husband her dad!!!
If
you don't have any of the above symptoms, you just have normal forgetfullness. In my mother-in-law's last 5 years of life, she exhibited all the
above.
Peter Cheung: Yes, Metis.
Let's forget our forgetfulness or enjoy our forgetfulness!
When I was a kid I was also forgetful. So I
am just getting younger.
Our
brains are getting smaller. It is normal aging so long it doesnt
has the stars and stripes in it. I do forget where I have parked my car because
I dont pay attention to where I park. I do burn my home-made
soups because my attention is not long enough. So I buya lot of
Remember
someone(?)
talked about diabetic brain and coconut oil?
Some people have referred to AD as type 3 diabetes---insulin resistance in the brain but no systematic diabetes. Researchers are now testing if diabetic drugs will have AD patients.
Thank you Metis for
the list of things we should be aware of and the activities that may help our
brain young and vivid. Gardening and cooking from scratch will keep our brain
busy but relaxed. We should have a friendly sudoku
contest!
Metis: Peter,
you're talking about Meformin, aren't you? My
mother-in-law took it for type II diabetes but in her case, it didn't slow down
the advance of vascular dementia because she also had high blood pressure and
other ailments. The research is still in its early stage but hopefully
University of Dundee where it was started can find a cure in the near future.
Meantime, to stop going ga ga
we better eathealthily, exercise daily, have hobbies
and lead a busy social life. That means keep talking on the forum.
Peter Cheung: Metis, the article does not specify
which drugs they are testing. I guess it would include metformin
plus some other insulin sensitizing drugs. I agree with you that the best
drug-free way to tactkle AD isto
have more exercise, less calorie intake, be social and be relaxed---just the
same way to tackle type 2 diabetes.
Metformin is the most prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes. For some patients who
have kidney failure and cannot excrete metformin efficiently,
its concentration gets too high in the blood and causes lactic acidosis. I
begin to suspect it may also cause other problems that we are not aware of yet.
So for patients who are taking metformin, they should
still consider doing all of the routines as youmention
so that their kidneys will last longer.
Stella: My
mother has been a diabetic for 40 years and so has been on diabetic pill for a
long time. Her GP sent her to a
kidney specialista couple of years ago, the
specialist took her off metformin and put her on
another drug, also give her weekly eprex
injection. Her kidney function is
still very low, but at least stablizing.