"Each individual human living with Alzheimer's follows a different path with the disease." This statement is so very true. Alzheimer's wins the most entropic disease award. When I think of the variability of paths that Alzheimer's can take, I think of the game PLINKO on the Price is Right. The PLINKO chip can fall left or right at any time depending on the random path. Which section of the brain that is effected depends on where you initially drop the chip. No one wants to play this game, but all humans are susceptible, it is a non-discrimatory disease. Plaques and tangles can build in any part of the brain, and there is not a single researcher that can explain why, definitively. Millions of dollars a year are allowing for the most brilliant minds on the planet to spend 10-14 hours a day tackling this tricky disease. It's just a matter of time before we figure out how to halt the growth of extracellular beta-amyloid deposits and even reverse the impacts of Alzheimer's disease.
One of the rarer forms of Alzheimer's is referred to as PCA, or Post Cortical Atrophy. Actually scientists are unsure whether PCA is a unique disease or a type of Alzheimer's disease. However, PCA involves the same amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as Alzheimer's, just in a different part of the brain. With this unofficial form of Alzheimer's, a person can formulate perfect sentences and enjoy highly intricate thoughts up until the later stages of the disease. In the first stages of the disease, the person's memory can remain unaffected. Why? Well, this type of Alzheimer's refers to gradual and progressive degeneration of the outer layer of the brain (the cortex), more specifically, it effects the outer cortical layer located in the rear of the brain. This section of the brain is most famous for allowing the comprehension of visual information. Patients will notice that they are unable to spell words or differentiate between shapes. Those with PCA can spit out beautiful sentences but have a difficult time reading them off a page. While this is bewildering to the lay person, it makes perfect sense to people who understand the different sections of the brain. It becomes rather intuitive: when the part of the brain that controls visual information is plugged up with plaques and tangles, it simply will not work as well. As the plaques and tangles progress into other sections of the brain, these too will begin to perform at lower levels.
The famous best-selling fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett was diagnoses with early onset PCA at the age of 59 (2007) after being misdiagnosed with a stroke in 2004. In 2007, Terry Pratchett made a million dollar donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust and in 2008 began to make a documentary film about his own early experience with the disease. The name of this film is called Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's and should be viewed by everyone on the planet. If 1 out of 85 people living in the US will have Alzheimer's in 2050, like projected, this disease effects all of us as citizens, family members, and friends. Feel Terry's fear, his hope, and his fight. This is a person that used to work with six computer screens at a time, but now has a difficult time reading his sentences off of a written page. Still, he says: "I want Alzheimer's disease to be scared it has me!" The honesty that he shares with his viewers throughout the film is both humbling and refreshing.
As a home care agency, our team is always studying the current research on Alzheimer's disease. There are many different medications that work to slow the progression of Alzheimer's and it is important that our team knows how they work. With anything in life, the more a person knows about something, the more confidence they have when working with it. We promise to continue to learn, just like you, about how to support our members of society living with all forms of Alzheimer's disease. The good news: researchers, medical doctors, care directors, family members, friends, and patients are all on the same journey together. No one is alone in this fight against Alzheimer's disease. If you ever do feel alone, call me day or night: 267-908-0398. - Paul Goldbeck
One of the rarer forms of Alzheimer's is referred to as PCA, or Post Cortical Atrophy. Actually scientists are unsure whether PCA is a unique disease or a type of Alzheimer's disease. However, PCA involves the same amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as Alzheimer's, just in a different part of the brain. With this unofficial form of Alzheimer's, a person can formulate perfect sentences and enjoy highly intricate thoughts up until the later stages of the disease. In the first stages of the disease, the person's memory can remain unaffected. Why? Well, this type of Alzheimer's refers to gradual and progressive degeneration of the outer layer of the brain (the cortex), more specifically, it effects the outer cortical layer located in the rear of the brain. This section of the brain is most famous for allowing the comprehension of visual information. Patients will notice that they are unable to spell words or differentiate between shapes. Those with PCA can spit out beautiful sentences but have a difficult time reading them off a page. While this is bewildering to the lay person, it makes perfect sense to people who understand the different sections of the brain. It becomes rather intuitive: when the part of the brain that controls visual information is plugged up with plaques and tangles, it simply will not work as well. As the plaques and tangles progress into other sections of the brain, these too will begin to perform at lower levels.
The famous best-selling fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett was diagnoses with early onset PCA at the age of 59 (2007) after being misdiagnosed with a stroke in 2004. In 2007, Terry Pratchett made a million dollar donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust and in 2008 began to make a documentary film about his own early experience with the disease. The name of this film is called Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's and should be viewed by everyone on the planet. If 1 out of 85 people living in the US will have Alzheimer's in 2050, like projected, this disease effects all of us as citizens, family members, and friends. Feel Terry's fear, his hope, and his fight. This is a person that used to work with six computer screens at a time, but now has a difficult time reading his sentences off of a written page. Still, he says: "I want Alzheimer's disease to be scared it has me!" The honesty that he shares with his viewers throughout the film is both humbling and refreshing.
As a home care agency, our team is always studying the current research on Alzheimer's disease. There are many different medications that work to slow the progression of Alzheimer's and it is important that our team knows how they work. With anything in life, the more a person knows about something, the more confidence they have when working with it. We promise to continue to learn, just like you, about how to support our members of society living with all forms of Alzheimer's disease. The good news: researchers, medical doctors, care directors, family members, friends, and patients are all on the same journey together. No one is alone in this fight against Alzheimer's disease. If you ever do feel alone, call me day or night: 267-908-0398. - Paul Goldbeck
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