How will I know if I get it?

jackybushell

Registered User
Feb 14, 2005
1
0
Hove
My grandfather and his brother and no doubt other members of my past family had alzheimer's disease. I don't know about other members but my grandad started it in his early fifties, possibly late forties.
My father sometimes appears to be a little bit on his way but at 68 I think his memory loss is normal and maybe he is not starting alzheimers, certainly not as early as his father.
I worry about how I can tell if I'm going to get it, I'm 42 and often forget things that have been told to me. I just have to take people's word for it that they did tell me or that I did say that. I'm sure it's just because I am a very busy person with lots on my mind but at 42 I wonder if there is a way of knowing.
 

Michelle-A

Registered User
Feb 5, 2005
27
0
43
Essex
Hi there,
My mum developed Alzheimer's in her late forties and my sister and I are always worried it could happen to us. We are only in our twenties. We get scared everytime we forget something too which is probably us just being paranoid. We don't have any other family history of AD and we pray to god we will be ok.

We were told that you can have genetic testing/counselling to find out if you are likely to develop it, though we've decided not to put ourselves through this as I do not want AD to affect/ruin my life any more than it already has done.

I'm sure you will be fine, we all forget things from time to time. I think people who have experienced friends/family with AD are naturally going to be much more aware of ourselves forgeting things than anyone else who wouldn't make a big deal of it.

Kind regards, Michelle
 

JoC

Registered User
Feb 25, 2005
7
0
Hiya,
My Mum died from Familial Alzheimer's which has been in our family for generations. It was confirmed after blood tests were taken on her and her cousin who also had it.
If you have read the recommended fact sheet ( which is rather useful) you will realise what this means for my family.
Because we know there is a genetic link and the gene that caused it we can have testing done.
My Auntie went through this process when my mum was ill. She had to have intensive counselling and interviews before they would give her the results. In all very traumatic experience for her - luckily she didn't have it!
As for me and my brother and sister, we are all in our 20's and not ready for that. Although i think i will have the test when i'm older. It is a worry and i understand your concern.
I'm not sure about other forms of the disease, but i think that doctors have a way of testing your memory to see if there are any problems. It is best to discuss it with a good doctor who will listen and understand your concerns, as so many still dismiss the idea that anyone under 70 can have the disease!
Anyway that is all i can say really i hope it is useful!

Take care

JoC
 

clairebi

Registered User
Mar 14, 2005
1
0
Your own absentmindedness is bound to cause you concern when you are aware that family members have been diagnosed with dementia but I think you hit the nail on the head Jacky when you identify that you are a busy person - memory demands our attention and concentration, if we don't attend to that which we need to remember it wont happen. That's why we get to the top of the stairs and have to return to the bottom to jog our memory of why we went up in the first place!
This type of memory difficulty can be overcome and the internet offers some useful websites with exercises and info on how to improve memory - I find www.exploratorium.edu/memory and http://memorytalk.com and www.mindtools.com quite useful, but just typing in "improve memory" on any search line brings some interesting finds. The techniques aren't time consuming and do work.
I know this doesn't answer your original query but if you find you can use the tips to overcome any worries about your own memory failings it may be reassuring. I suspect what you need most is some reassurance that you are not alone in your situation, believe me you are not.
Hope this is of some help
cheers