Is there any disease worse than Alzheimer's?

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Goosemaster

Lifer
Apr 10, 2001
48,775
3
81
1 of my 2 grandmothers has Alzheimers and it just got really REALLY bad. Normally she would pretty muc hresemble a disoriented elderly person...


but two day ago they had to take her to the Hospital. She can't walk, can't go to the bathroom, and doesn't want to eat....


I went to visit her for christmas.....First time in my ENITE LIFE that she did not recognize me, and this is after quite a few years with the disease. This is the begininning of the end for her I think.:(


TO make matters worse, my other grandmother(my mothers mom) FINALLY got to go home for christmas after being in ICU for months. Its assumed she'll have to go back too.
 

Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
1
0
Originally posted by: 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)

I'd like to point out you're a moron.

And no, I can't think of anything worse than alzheimers, and I haven't gone through the pain of having someone close to me that developed it :(

 

woodie1

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2000
5,947
0
0
My mother had dementia for the last 10-12 years of her life. She went through all the stages before passing last summer. We kids gave her the best care we could but it was still so sad to see such a happy, wonderful person disappear right before your eyes.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,267
126
It all depends on whether you have the disease or are one close to another who has it.

It's much worse for those who are caregiver.

However, there are diseases where a healthy mind is caught in a useless body. That would suck in the extreme.
 

bbrontosaurus

Senior member
Oct 25, 2002
469
0
0
I remember reading something a while ago that had said that Alzheimer's patients have far more amounts of aluminum in their brain than normal patients......I also remember hearing this is why you should avoid Aluminum-containing antiperspirants:confused:
 

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
142
106
Mad Cow b/c it slowly eats microscopic holes in your brain, over the course of a week. Anthrax is probably on par, but you die quicker... you will bleed through your pores until mush.
 

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
142
106
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Mad Cow b/c it slowly eats microscopic holes in your brain, over the course of a week. Anthrax is probably on par, but you die quicker... you will bleed through your pores until mush.

EDIT: It takes about a year to die... this has to be the worst way to go... :(

From here:

"In Charlene's case, the development of the disease was first noticed about a year ago, when she began to forget things and started losing her temper, her sister Lisa said.

"She came to me a couple of times and said, 'You know Lisa, I think something is wrong with me,'" Lisa said.

Charlene saw a doctor for the symptoms, who did not diagnose her with mad cow and instead prescribed an anti-depressant.

Later, the symptoms worsened, her father said. "Her hand began to shake pretty rapidly," he said. "We decided, well this can't be depression. Depression doesn't make your hand shake. It doesn't make you walk and stumble."

Charlene's family traveled to doctors in London before they learned the true nature of her condition. She was diagnosed with variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

She and her family returned home to Florida when, last May, on her 23rd birthday, she was unable to walk on her own.

Then, Charlene started to go mad.

There were episodes when Charlene bit people and hit them. She became unable to control herself. Her family brought in a priest in hopes that he could help.

The disease continued its steady takeover of Charlene's body. By summer she could barely hug her brother and now, she can no longer hug him at all. She also has lost the ability to perform the simple task of swallowing.

Charlene used to offer to take care of her sister Lisa, before she needed so much care herself. "She always took care of us and now it's my turn to take care of her," Lisa said. "It's tough when she had such a bright future ahead of her."

As he watches Charlene fade away, her family members worry that they, too, may have eaten tainted meat years ago and will develop the disease. Scientists don't yet know whether the disease is transmitted in a single serving, or cumulatively, over time.

A double burden to bear, as Charlene's family tries to remember her not as she is, but as she once was."

 

se7en

Platinum Member
Oct 23, 2002
2,303
1
0
Mmmmm as bad as this one is IMO interstitial lung disease or like COPD would be rated kinda crappy.Your mind doesnt degenerate but your lungs no longer work basically at all so your on O2 pretty much 24/7.So you get out of breath tying your shoe much les going anywhere at all.You can still think clearly and you know what you would like to do but you just cant do it b/c you cant breathe =(.The early stages arent quite as bad but in the more advanced stages its really sad and the medications required start to break your body down as well so it just gets worse.Of course you can always come to where I work and get a lung transplant but hey everyone has 33,000 sitting around right =(
 

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Mad Cow b/c it slowly eats microscopic holes in your brain, over the course of a week. Anthrax is probably on par, but you die quicker... you will bleed through your pores until mush.

EDIT: It takes about a year to die... this has to be the worst way to go... :(

From here:

"In Charlene's case, the development of the disease was first noticed about a year ago, when she began to forget things and started losing her temper, her sister Lisa said.

"She came to me a couple of times and said, 'You know Lisa, I think something is wrong with me,'" Lisa said.

Charlene saw a doctor for the symptoms, who did not diagnose her with mad cow and instead prescribed an anti-depressant.

Later, the symptoms worsened, her father said. "Her hand began to shake pretty rapidly," he said. "We decided, well this can't be depression. Depression doesn't make your hand shake. It doesn't make you walk and stumble."

Charlene's family traveled to doctors in London before they learned the true nature of her condition. She was diagnosed with variant Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

She and her family returned home to Florida when, last May, on her 23rd birthday, she was unable to walk on her own.

Then, Charlene started to go mad.

There were episodes when Charlene bit people and hit them. She became unable to control herself. Her family brought in a priest in hopes that he could help.

The disease continued its steady takeover of Charlene's body. By summer she could barely hug her brother and now, she can no longer hug him at all. She also has lost the ability to perform the simple task of swallowing.

Charlene used to offer to take care of her sister Lisa, before she needed so much care herself. "She always took care of us and now it's my turn to take care of her," Lisa said. "It's tough when she had such a bright future ahead of her."

As he watches Charlene fade away, her family members worry that they, too, may have eaten tainted meat years ago and will develop the disease. Scientists don't yet know whether the disease is transmitted in a single serving, or cumulatively, over time.

A double burden to bear, as Charlene's family tries to remember her not as she is, but as she once was."

And to think, all because some farmer wanted to save a few cents on feed that had ground up spinal cords of other cows.