NationStates Jolt Archive

I have a grandad who has it and he cant speak care for himself or anything, he lives in a nursing home. Does anyone else have a relative or freind with alzheimers??

My grandmother does. She is slowly deteriorating. :(

I have a grandad who has it and he cant speak care for himself or anything, he lives in a nursing home. Does anyone else have a relative or freind with alzheimers??
My maternal Grandmother had it. My aunt and my mother along with a visiting nurse helped her through it in her final years. It's not easy to deal with. I'm sorry for your grandad and your family.

it sucks serious ass dont it

the positive aspect of the condition: every day you meet new people

My parents have told me that if they ever get Alzheimers then they want me to euthanise them... :(

It must be a horrible condition...

well yes thats true in a physco kind way.. at my grandad's place ive been proposed to twice by 70somethin year old ladies... it can be entertaining some but it still sucks

My grandmother died because of it and you already know it is an awful progression. My heart goes out to you.

There is speculation that aluminum based deodorants may play a part in developing alzheimer's. I tried using deodorants with no aluminum but they just don't work well (and I am not a sweaty or stinky person).

Like them above, my grandmother had alzheimers - I'm sorry for your loss :( Here's hoping the home's able to make your grandad's days comfortable, at least.

I have a grandad who has it and he cant speak care for himself or anything, he lives in a nursing home. Does anyone else have a relative or freind with alzheimers??
My grandfather on my father's side, and also my grandmother from my father's side had it.

My grandfather was mostly gone by the time I got to meet him, and my grandmother seemed to go downhill slower (her doctor claimed it was because I used to go visit her and play cards, but I think he was trying to make me feel better)

My grandmother from my mom's side got dementia a few months before she died, it was really sad. I had just moved to Arizona when she got sick, the month before she was able to play Zelda and watch movies with me, and before she died she didn't even recognize me on the phone. I didn't get to go to her funeral because I was 8 months pregnant and on bed rest.

Spend as much time with your grandparents as you can, you will miss them a lot when they are gone. :(

My great-grandmother had Alzheimer's and it pretty much killed her. During her last years, she thought she was living in an apartment in her childhood hometown and she didn't recognize her own son. She was in her late 80s when she was diagnosed with it; she lived to just after her 92nd birthday. It was good to see her live as long as she did, but it was a damn shame that she was in such poor condition for the last few years of her life.

I don't know a whole lot about Alzheimer's...I don't know if it's genetic or not, and I don't quite understand how to prevent it...or even if I can...

My grandpa does... it's usually fun to mess with his head sometimes (although it's often times not a result of his alzheimers but rather his out-of-it-ness) but it is indeed a sad disease.

I have been blessed with having a family that has never shown any signs of Alzheimers. I have known, however, many friends whose elders suffer from this crippling disease, so I have a lot of compassion for those going through such things.

My dad is in the early stages of it--he has good days and bad days right now, but the bad days are starting to get more frequent.

I don't know a whole lot about Alzheimer's...I don't know if it's genetic or not, and I don't quite understand how to prevent it...or even if I can...

Scientists don't know these things either. From what we can tell, it is sometimes genetic, to a point, and sometimes not. There are both genetic and environmental factors that can affect it - and every case varies. No one is sure what exactly causes it. We know the physical and mental symptoms, but we don't know what causes what. Do the plaques that form in the brain cause deterioration, or are they a part of it? These are things we just don't yet know.

Risk factors are all over the place. People with more education tend to be less likely to get it, but then again it may just be that they don't present with symptoms as early. Women are more likely to get it than men. Age is obviously a factor. Certain genes have been identified as possibly contributing to familial cases.

It's a very difficult disease to pin down, and I'm sure it is even more difficult ot deal with. My sympathies to anyone and everyone who has been close to someone with this disease, and to those who actually have it.

I have a purple Alzheimers foundation wristband on, I never take it off. My grandmother, the only relative I have left on my mother's side besides two aunts has it. She was diagnosed early but that didn't help much, dispite everything it's progressed. When it became clear that she couldn't live alone anymore my aunt's, my sister and myself worked together to sell her house and buy a new one she shares with my sister and her family who provide full time care for her. There are a number of physical complications that accompany the mental aspect of the disease. One of them is a swallowing disorder that can lead to pnemonia, one of the most common 'causes' of death of sufferers.