Is there any disease worse than Alzheimer's?

[beer]

I just talked to my girlfriend and her professor from last semester was diagnosed with Alzheimer's yesterday. She liked him a lot, but now she's worried. While I have not seen a mid or late-stage alzhemer's patient, and am relying on what I see in movies/TV shows, it just seems to me that Alzheimer's disease is the worst diagnosis imaginable. No cure. I think I could better handle a physical disease, like HIV, better than something like Alzheimer's. It just seems so devestating.

As bad as HIV is, it is preventable in most cases, and it destroys your body, not your mind. It seems to me that it would be so much worse to be an Alzheimer's patient, even if you aren't aware of it (as they aren't). I just can't imagine losing my perspective on the world as they do. And the fact that no one has any idea how to cure it makes it so much more devestating. Cancer, HIV.....you have a good chance of being treated. Even diseases like Parkinson's have some medication to lower the side effects, right?

 

[Ryan]

Yea, I'd hate being a leper.

 

[Saulbadguy]

VD.

 

[Descartes]

My grandmother is in an advanced Alzheimer's state, and she can no longer speak, eat, or breathe. She hasn't been able to acknowledge anyone for quite some time. They'll be taking her off life-support shortly.

I wasn't close to her at all though.

 

[moonshinemadness]

Motoneurons Disease (SP)

 

[gistech1978]

my grandfather was developing it before he passed.
i have also never been in close contact with someone who is too far gone.
but it is a sad disease. it would be hard to visit your grandmother and she has no idea who you are or where or who she is.
i dont know though, with alzheimer's there isnt any physical pain involved (that im aware). i would much rather have my mind go than be bed-ridden in pain.

 

[minus1972]

no. And I can tell you from experience that television is not even close to an accurate representation of alzheimers. In mid stages the patient becomes vacant and extremely forgetful...not just little things, but things like how to get home or forgetting the faces of close family members. In the late stages it is by far the most disturbing thing I have ever had to deal with. The patient can no longer form sentences, or words in some cases, and they revert to acting like a small child who can not yet speak. The best you can hope for when visiting is a simle if you're fortunate enough to be recognized or acknowleged.

I'm truly sorry to hear about this and hope that your girlfriend's professor does better then my grandmother did. Best of luck.

 

[Ryan]

My grandmother had it also - it's a very hard thing to go through. I'd never really met her (my family lived mostly overseas when I was a kid, she lived in a nursing home in South Carolina), but the first time I remember meeting her she was in the advance stages. She was unresponsive to everyone that worked in the facility where she was at, but when my mother started talking to her, she started to react, trying to speak. my mother was the only person she could remember. It's very difficult to watch someone in that kind of state, it troubled me when I went there to the point where I was in tears.

Even worse, she passed away 4 hours after we saw her for the last time on our trip to south carolina.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: moonshinemadness
Motoneurons Disease (SP)

explain

 

[MystikMango]

I used to date this girl, her mother took care of people with Alzheimer's in her home. I think at one time she had 4-5 patients. Behing around, I was able to see the degenerative abilities of this disease, and how it affected people differently.

Gistech1978 used a proper word... sad.

I have seen people not remember their children, or their spouses, yet they continue to come and visit, and have to act like friends. Every visit is replayed. "Hello, nice to meet you."

One lady in particular I had known for about 3 years. We always thought she was German. Well, in her later days, no one could undertand her gibberish. Then one instance someone was at teh house and begain talking to her. We were all surprised that this person could understand the lady. We asked her how she could understand what she was saying, when ever her husband and family could not. The person responded that she couldn't understand us, for the lady was speaking perfect Polish.

We did some research with her family, and in turned out when she was 4yrs old, they had escaped from Poland and into Germany. her father thought it best to adopt the German culture or face the gas chambers. Her memories were totaly repressed, until Alzheimer's uncovered them since it is a regressive disease of the mind that destroys short term memory.

 

[Ynog]

While i personally know more than one person to have had Alzheimers, its much harder on the families than it is on the person themselves.
My great uncle had alzheimers really bad, and by the time he passed away was in the very advanced stages, where he didn't recognize anyone.
It was very sad.

However if you want a worse disease, I'd have to say, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)

 

[conjur]

Behcet's Syndrome w/Fibromyalgia

 

[imported_Tomato]

Alzheimers is probably one of the most emotionally destructive diseases out there, particularly for those close to the one afflicted.

 

[GasX]

The problem with Alzheimers is that the hardest hit victim is often the caregiver.

 

[samarth]

Originally posted by: minus1972
no. And I can tell you from experience that television is not even close to an accurate representation of alzheimers. In mid stages the patient becomes vacant and extremely forgetful...not just little things, but things like how to get home or forgetting the faces of close family members. In the late stages it is by far the most disturbing thing I have ever had to deal with. The patient can no longer form sentences, or words in some cases, and they revert to acting like a small child who can not yet speak. The best you can hope for when visiting is a simle if you're fortunate enough to be recognized or acknowleged.

I'm truly sorry to hear about this and hope that your girlfriend's professor does better then my grandmother did. Best of luck.

My grandfather currently has it. he is in the late stages too. I visited him last year and he didnt recognize any of us.
I was really close to him also. The only person he recognizes right now is my grandmother. It is really difficult to see him not being able to do extremely basic things. I feel for my grandmother who takes care of him becasue it is extremely difficult.
Makes me sad when i think about it
And you are correct, I thin I'd pick a physical disability also over getting alzheimer's

 

[DBL]

Huntington's correa
ALS (lou gehrig's disease)

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: Ynog
While i personally know more than one person to have had Alzheimers, its much harder on the families than it is on the person themselves.
My great uncle had alzheimers really bad, and by the time he passed away was in the very advanced stages, where he didn't recognize anyone.
It was very sad.

However if you want a worse disease, I'd have to say, ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)

My father had ALS. I don't know anyone with Alzheimer's personally enough to comment on it (I know a couple people, just none that I'm close to). ALS is somewhat of the opposite to Alzheimer's. With the first you have a fully competent person slowly losing all voluntary muscle movement and eventually involuntary movement (breathing being the most problematic) as well. With the latter you have someone who is physically fine, but mentally they slowly slip away. At least with Alzheimer's it doesn't seem like the person is really suffering, however with ALS you have a person completely loosing all control of their physical body and eventually their ability to breathe while being totally sane and fully aware of what's happening. It progresses to the point where they literally suffocate to death in front of you and there's nothing you can do about it save for either putting them on a respirator or injecting them with so much drugs that they just slip out of consciousness and pass away from lack of oxygen. My father didn't want to be on a respirator (who would? Can't do anything, fed through a tube, can't really talk at all, etc), so when the time came that he couldn't breath on his own completely we got him an assisted breathing machine, and when that was no longer enough the nurse put him on a morphine pump and he was given morphine until he died from lack of air. Not something easy to watch. I don't think there's much else short of persistant torture that can be a worse kind of death.

 

[Electric Amish]

There was one, but I can't remember what it's called...

 

[Papagayo]

SAD..

I don't know what else to say..

 

[dman]

Read about this Athletes Foot treatment on FARK the other day, interesting...

I think Mad Cow Disease is scarrier (at least to me) than Alzheimers. But neither seems the 'worst'. I was posting just to include the link, I really don't know what would be the worst. I agree w/ above, if I had to say what would be worst for me or for my family... I dunno.

I'll will add--Cancer is pretty darn scary, especially when it's caught beyond treatment time... had a few friends or family of friends reach that point recently.

Google Link that expands upon above

 

[Booster]

As bad as HIV is, it is preventable in most cases, and it destroys your body, not your mind.

I'm not afraid of Mr. Alzheimer. You know why? B/c I hardly have any brain left at all. If you'd listen to techno music as much as me and spend as much time on the internet you'd become the same dumb zombie, Alzheimer-immune. What brain can that illness destroy if I burnt up my last few grey cells like years ago?

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Booster

As bad as HIV is, it is preventable in most cases, and it destroys your body, not your mind.

I'm not afraid of Mr. Alzheimer. You know why? B/c I hardly have any brain left at all. If you'd listen to techno music as much as me and spend as much time on the internet you'd become the same dumb zombie, Alzheimer-immune. What brain can that illness destroy if I burnt up my last few grey cells like years ago?

Your humor is not appreciated in what should be a serious thread.

 

[Booster]

Your humor is not appreciated in what should be a serious thread.

I know, sorry. Some people might have it or might know someone who has it. I just said I'm not afraid of it. Not at all, so not scary to me. I'm afraid of physical damage, like getting wounds, burns, etc. Internal illnesses don't threaten me nearly as much.

 

[0roo0roo]

its been described as living with a corpse.

 

[Booster]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
its been described as living with a corpse.

I'm a mummy too. Heck, I think I should check for that illness. What if I have it? I feel so dumb right now, like I got no brain. So sorry if I offended - I may be in the same boat (so all the humor gone)