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Enough to drive you NUTS!

Blog: The Myriad Life Market Blog
Posted by: Myriad Life Sunday 30th March 2008, 8:44pm
Last edited 30/03/2008 8:44pm by Myriad Life

I can't stand seeing any more propaganda re Alzheimers. All this rubbish about if you keep your brain active, if you eat folic acid, if you ease up on the alcohol and stop smoking, ENOUGH!

Dr Mark Porter in the EDP on Saturday needs to go back and read what he has written and perhaps think about the advice given in his column. To be fair he's only regurgitating the official lines of advice but it's time someone questioned the propaganda.

He mentions Terry Pratchett, a much loved author who has early onset Alzheimers. Mr Pratchett is being very brave about it, he's donated a vast sum of money and he talks a lot of sense.

Mr Pratchett is acknowledging the devastating effect this disease has and trying to give it publicity and financial aid while he still has time.

Alzheimers affects just as many people as cancer and yet it has nowhere near the same public profile. Several years ago in Australia I saw on the news information about a drug that delays the progression of this disease, it was cheap. I wondered why we don't have it over here. I think we do now but surprise surprise it's very expensive.

Telling us that if we exercise our brains we can stave off brain disease is ridiculous, use it or lose it is the message, do crosswords, suduko, etc etc. Excuse me but isn't Mr Pratchett a very fine writer who has sold millions of books, does he not use his brain on a daily basis to do this?

Iris Murdoch, one of the great writers of our time, she had Alzheimers and continued to write as she suffered. Assumably she was exercising her brain to write.

Countless other highly intelligent people have been lost to Alzheimers, daily crosswords and brain training machines would not have made the slightest bit of difference, they were using their brains to good effect anyway.

My father died at the age of 64, he had Alzheimers. When it started he was still in full time employment as a Personnel Officer, his brain was exercised constantly by his work but this awsome & evil disease stole him piece by piece until he was a mere shell.

All this 'useful advice' is a smokescreen, the truth is there is very little help for the increasing number of carers and sufferers, research makes very slow progress and the government doesn't want to pay out for the drugs or practical help. My father died twenty two years ago and not much has changed.

Alzheimers is a ticking time bomb. Don't believe the propaganda.

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