Heads you lose; Tails you lose

[Padraig]

I'm no longer surprised by the waste of time and money some projects researchers undertake. Results of research carried out on 3,020 people between age 65 and 75 in the US for the Journal Neurology, show that; Alzheimer's is associated with a reduced risk of cancer!

Those with Alzheimer's at the start of the study showed that 69% were less likely to be admitted to hospital with cancer!

Those with cancer at the start of the study revealed that 43% were less likely to develop Alzheimer's than the cancer free participants!

How's that for good news over Christmas?
It's two years since my wife passed away and I see very little change in the care and treatment of patients. The same questions with the same answers keep getting churned out time and time again. I thank God that I rejected the standard advice, help and medication. Had I followed the well trodden path so many are forced to take because of circumstances, my wife would have had a painful ending instead of extended years of comfort.

If I seem angry; yes I am, when I see so much pain and hurt and there is nothing I can do. This illness only hits the headlines when some so called 'celebrity' has a love one with AD. But you will notice they will not take time out to become full time carers.
Could it be that the 'Nobodies' of this world i. e. carers that keep their loved ones at home and complete the journey to the end, make others feel uncomfortable? They should not, rather should they learn from their experience.
I wish you all the strength to make it through the New Year and that your experiences enrich and strengthen you.

 

[Norman]

Hi Padraig
Two and a half years since I lost my Peg.
Things are improving,but very slowly.
I am still working away where I can to try and improve the situation for dementia sufferers in particular and older people in general.
Great to see you posting and passing on your experience for the benefit of others.
Norman

 

[Tender Face]

Padraig, I am ashamed to say I saw this article and thought to post it on TP but didn’t. My feelings around this are probably too personal as my mother died of cancer – which to this day I question (given her battle royal on that score for many years which she continually won) until her dementia meant she could not articulate/remember symptoms until it was ‘too late’ …. To this day I wonder she might be here still had dementia not disguised other symptoms and/or robbed her of her abilities to ‘report’ them …. And her hospital admission was for dehydration after just 9 days in a NH – NOT the cancer (until I jumped up and down often enough to get folk to listen to my concerns and have her properly diagnosed).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8425824.stm

Well done the voice of reason from AS:

However, Professor Clive Ballard, of the Alzheimer's Society, said the existence of one of the diseases could mask the symptoms of the other and affect diagnosis.

Here’s a little gift of hope for those of us trying to work for a better future:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8426959.stm

Love, Karen, x

 

[Margarita]

Those who had Alzheimer's at the start of the study were 69% less likely to be admitted to hospital with cancer than those free of the disease at the start.

(My mother lived with me for 7 years . I was her sole carer )

Now that is true , because my mum died of cancer she must of had it for years , before it was diagnosed. she had a massive mass of cancer in her stomach, that they did not want to operate, because of the dementia and her age 79 to stop the bleeding that was going on behinds the cancer . They said she was not cognitively strong enough to recover from an operation like that, because if mum was even 40 years old cognitively OK she would of had a 50/50 chance of recovery . so with the dementia mum only had a 30 percent chance of recovery so they would not operate, so end of story . No operation for mum no prognoses death happen in few weeks from having been diagnosed with cancer, because of the bleeding going on in the stomach, even thought they did try clip it to stop it bleeding .

They found no association between cancer and another type of dementia, known as vascular dementia, which is thought to be caused by a lack of blood supply to the brain.

However, patients with this condition died earlier than people with Alzheimer's.

That interesting to read, because mum had Mix AZ (vascular dementia)

PS


Poor mum always complained of a pain her side for years, also to the doctor who put it all down to old age. When she use to ask ‘’ why does my side hurt me so much, or why does my leg hurt me so much? Doctor just gives mum cream for the cream to rub her leg.

I even gave myself a panic attract trying to tell the cancer nurse in the hospital that people with dementia can’t express they pain normally tell you where the pain really coming from. She just tells me “she never heard of that before “.

While I tell her “well I have read Researchers on it.
It was only the hospice nurses that said “sigh of pain is stinting the eyes. Which mum had been doing for the last 3 years or so .

 

[Margarita]

..................

 

[Prague09]

Hi

I agree so much with you said. Demenita is the poor realtion. Thats why are loved ones get such bad care when in hospital as the nurses are not trained. I am very angry with the treatment of my late Dad I will never forget what happened to him when he was in hospital.
Prague09

 

[Padraig]

Usless

The best thing I ever did was to take back control of our lives from the hands of the so called experts. I'm not bitter at them after all it's the system they are trained in, and follow. Again it was my good fortune not to be trained as nature served me well throughout life.
I've been, and still am an observer of life and society. There has been little option as there was no nurture or family in my upbringing. The advantages of making it alone in the world without an education have been enormous. To succeeds one had to keep one's background secret.
I tackled Alzheimer's like I approached many other challenges in life. If I were to think in a conventional manner, I would have never taught in a classroom environment or finally ended up as a Superintendent with Lockheed, then retiring aged 54.
The point I'm trying to make is that the care system for the most vulnerable in our society requires fresh open minds to make it work compassionately for all.
All I see are the same questions with the same answers; going around in circles. I don't give advice; as the Americans use to say of me "He tells it how it is." I feel so useless at seeing so much pain.